Feb 10, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) and guard Austin Reaves (15) react after a basket against the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Luka Doncic's Strong Austin Reaves Statement After Lakers-Spurs

Originally posted on San Antonio Spurs on SI
By Farbod Esnaashari | Last updated Mar 18, 2025 2:16 AM ET

When the season began, many around the league already had high praise for Lakers guard Austin Reaves. Granted, he was sometimes targeted on the defensive end, but what he brought overall was a winning player.

Fast forward to March, and Reaves has arguably become the best third option in the NBA today. Regardless of whether Luka Doncic or LeBron James, Reaves somehow finds a way to impact the game.

On Monday night against the San Antonio Spurs, Reaves put up 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists on 57/39/100 shooting from the field. It was a performance that earned rave reviews from his teammate Luka Doncic.

Luka Doncic on Austin Reaves: “This guy just scored 30 in his fourth game in five days. He's an amazing player. For him to go undrafted is unbelievable.” #Lakeshow pic.twitter.com/QBUJUFoAgr
— LoJo Media (@LoJoMedia) March 18, 2025

"I mean, this guy just scored 30 in his fourth game in five days," Doncic said. "He's an amazing player. For him to go undrafted is unbelievable. It's not easy to go undrafted and play at this level and it's amazing just to be by his side."

Austin Reaves led the way for the Lakers in their 2nd win in 2 days!

30 PTS
7 REB
6 AST
2 STL
5 3PM pic.twitter.com/HJsMlfTb5e
— NBA (@NBA) March 18, 2025

After going on a four-game losing streak without LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers had a couple of gimme games against the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs. Now, the team has a tough back-to-back ahead of them in the form of the Denver Nuggets and Milwaukee Bucks.

It's hard to say what seed the Lakers will end up at the end of the season, but they'll almost certainly be in the NBA playoffs while there's a miniscule chance that the San Antonio Spurs will be.

This article first appeared on San Antonio Spurs on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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