A member of the Los Angeles Lakers got MVP chants during Friday’s 126-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets, but it probably wasn’t who you’re thinking.
It wasn’t Anthony Davis, the Laker playing most like an MVP thus far this season. It wasn’t LeBron James or Russell Westbrook — two actual former MVPs — though they deserved such praise with 45 combined points, 20 combined rebounds and 16 total rebounds. And it wasn’t even the player who shares a last name with former Lakers MVP winner Kobe Bryant, though the less famous Thomas Bryant thrived with 21 points in perhaps his best outing of the season.
No, the MVP chants were for second-year undrafted guard Austin Reaves who had just scored his 10th consecutive point in the second quarter to cut a nine-point deficit down to four by finishing a layup in traffic and drawing a foul in the process. The fans rewarded him with perhaps the highest honor they can bestow upon one of their own.
Reaves scored only six more points in the rest of the game, but the fans in the building recognized the importance of that streak. The Lakers have developed a nasty habit of blowing enormous leads in startlingly brief periods of time. That trend culminated on Tuesday when the Lakers watched a 13-point fourth-quarter lead evaporate in the final four minutes against Boston, and after watching the Lakers turn a nine-point lead into an identical deficit in the second quarter, that trend was rearing its ugly head once again. For a few minutes, Reaves stepped up and was the best player on the court. Soon after, he ceded the position to a teammate.
In the third quarter, it was Dennis Schroder, who scored 10 points to lift the Lakers out of yet another hole and send them into the fourth in control of the game. Rookie Max Christie followed it up by bringing the building down with back-to-back clutch 3-pointers. Westbrook, who notched his 196th career triple double, sealed the win with perhaps his most complete quarter of the season. James filled in every gap. Bryant filled in the biggest.
Anthony Davis…
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