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By Valentina Martinez
Contributing Sports Writer
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Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves made history Sunday night against the Sacramento Kings. Reaves scored 51 points with 11 rebounds and nine assists to help the Lakers secure a 127-120 road victory.
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The performance from Reaves put the 26-year-old in elite company as he joined Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Anthony Davis as the only Lakers since 2000 to score 50-plus points in a single game.
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The Lakers didn't have either of their All-Stars in Luka Doncic and James. Doncic was ruled out earlier Sunday with a left finger sprain and a left lower leg contusion. Meanwhile, James missed the start of the season with sciatica on his right side and is not expected to make his season debut until mid-November.
And so, Reaves was tasked with leading the charge Sunday night against the Kings — and he delivered.
"Especially on a night where you don't have Luka, you don't have Bron, you don't have Jaxson [Hayes], you got to go out there and be big for the team," Reaves said to ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "I wasn't in my head thinking, 'You got to go score 50.' It was, 'Do whatever you can do to help the team win.'"
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Reaves has the opportunity to continue leading the purple and gold as Doncic is expected to miss the next five or six games. This next stretch is an important one for Reaves as he declined a contract extension from the Lakers in the offseason in order to test the free agent market next summer.
The win over Sacramento is certainly a good sign for the Lakers, who had just nine of their 14 rostered players available for the road matchup.
"I do think for this group it's important to know that you can win a basketball game without those two guys," Lakers head coach JJ Redick said.
Now, the Lakers' next challenge will be the Portland Trailblazers back at home and the squad will surely need another fantastic performance from Reaves.
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