The picture is an AI-generated illustration, not a photograph from the match
The Lakers were missing the league's hottest player on Sunday night, so Austin Reaves answered with 43 points on 14-of-27 shooting, all 11 free throws and a one-legged three with the shot clock dying to finish a 121-116 win over Detroit.
A 43-point answer with one turnover
Los Angeles played this game without Luka Doncic, who had averaged 45 points, nine rebounds and eight assists across the four previous wins, every one of them a Lakers victory.
Reaves completed the assignment in full: 43 points, 11 of 11 free throws, one turnover and 36:41 on the floor.
A 23.0-point average over the previous four games said Reaves was already carrying more; against Detroit he simply took the shots as well.
Notably, Reaves played two seasons at Wichita State and one at Oklahoma before declaring for the 2021 draft, where the Pistons planned to take him 42nd; he declined so he could sign as a free agent with the Lakers, and Detroit moved on to Isaiah Livers, who played 130 NBA games and now plays in Japan.
Kessler pushed back on the luck talk: with Doncic on the floor Reaves takes a secondary role, and 43 points made the case that it is a choice, not a ceiling.
109-104 and a terrible shot that stayed up
The Lakers led by as many as 26 points in the second quarter, held the advantage for 97 percent of the game and never trailed, with no lead changes recorded.
Detroit closed to 109-104 with under a minute to play after the Lakers could not get their offense into rhythm, setting up the final sequence.
The dagger was not designed: a flipped-up, one-legged three from Reaves that he described afterward as a lucky attempt that simply fell.
Detroit made 19 of 48 three-pointers against the Lakers' 11 of 28 and finished with 27 assists and 10 steals, but never led at any point.
In the wider picture, Daniss Jenkins scored 31 points off the bench on 8-of-15 three-point shooting with five rebounds and four assists, and Kevin Huerter added 24 points and five blocks.
Cunningham's night and the fixtures ahead
The second-chance work was Los Angeles' quiet edge: Kessler's 16 rebounds included seven offensive, and the Lakers scored 58 points in the paint.
Two 17-point nights from Williams and Sexton, both arriving off the bench, were the next scoring lines after Reaves' 43.
In addition, Cunningham's night was crowded out: 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting, eight assists, four turnovers and a minus-15 rating.
Paul Reed had 10 rebounds with eight of them offensive and Ausar Thompson pulled 11 boards, yet Detroit finished one rebound behind.
The Lakers improved to 9-2 and travelled to Atlanta for the Monday-night game that followed, while the Pistons dropped to 6-3 and hosted Washington the same evening.
Editor's take: The story of the night is a role switch: a 23-point-per-game second option had to become a first option for three hours.
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