Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation
Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics
Five-time Los Angeles Lakers champion Magic Johnson feels Austin Reaves has done just about enough to earn his first All-Star nod this season.
Johnson was in awe of Reaves’ performance on Thursday, when the undrafted guard finished with 44 points, 10 assists and five rebounds to guide the Lakers to a tough 123-120 road victory over the red-hot Toronto Raptors.
“Austin Reaves continued his dominant play this season scoring 44 points with 11 assists to lead the Lakers to a 123-120 victory over the Toronto Raptors!” Johnson wrote on X. “Reaves should definitely be playing in the NBA All-Star game this year!”
Austin Reaves Carries Lakers
Reaves’ performance was all the more impressive due to the circumstances.
Entering the game, the Raptors had an 8-2 home record and were playing inspired basketball, led by the duo of Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram.
Furthermore, the Lakers were without Luka Doncic (personal reasons) and LeBron James needed 17 shots to score eight points, enduring one of the worst games of his career. As such, Reaves singlehandedly carried the Lakers to victory.
Reaves scored 30 of his 44 points in the second half, shooting 7-of-11 from the floor and 3-of-7 from three in the final two quarters of a nip-and-tuck game.
Lock for All-Star Team?
It’s hard to argue against Magic Johnson’s position.
Reaves is averaging career-highs across the board, tallying 28.9 points, 6.8 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 2.9 made threes from 18 contests. He ranks sixth in the league in points per game, 12th in assists, seventh in Player Efficiency (31.2) and 15th in total threes. Those are metrics that almost certainly make him a lock for an All-Star Game.
Also worth noting is that Reaves is averaging a staggering 41.0 points, 10.0 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals in four games without Luka Doncic this season, proving to have the skillset and temprament to carry the Lakers as their primary scoring option.
ESPN’s Zach Kram recently had Reaves in his “On the Bubble” category to make the All-Star team, but predicted that the Lakers still will make the final cut.
“If I had to pick the 12 West All-Stars today, they would be the eight near-locks plus [Deni] Avdija, [Devin] Booker, [Chet] Holmgren and Reaves, with Holmgren getting the last spot over [James] Harden.”
Kram’s eight locks for the All-Star team were the usual suspects, except LeBron James — Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors, Luka Doncic, Los Angeles Lakers, Kevin Durant, Houston Rockets, Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder, Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets, Alperen Sengun, Houston Rockets and Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs.
Sai Mohan covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan
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