Luka Doncic Praises Austin Reaves After Lakers Cruise Past Knicks Without LeBron

The Los Angeles Lakers got one of their best wins of the season on Sunday, beating the New York Knicks 110-97 at Crypto.com Arena without LeBron James in the lineup.

Luka Doncic led the way with 35 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals, while Austin Reaves added 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting along with four rebounds, five assists and three steals.

The two combined for 60 points and never let the Knicks get comfortable, controlling the game from start to finish.

After the game, Doncic did not hold back when talking about what it is like playing alongside Reaves.

"It's just great being his teammate," Doncic said. "Obviously, he needs to be aggressive like this, but just playing with him is so easy, because he draws so much attention, and helps others too. So, just playing with him, it makes my life easy."

Those words carry extra weight when you look at the numbers and consider just how good the Lakers have been when Doncic and Reaves are running the show together without James.

The Lakers are now 9-2 this season when the duo plays together with LeBron on the sideline, and Sunday's performance against one of the best teams in the East only added more fuel to the conversation about how well these two fit.

Doncic also praised his team's defense, saying he felt everybody was locked in from the jump and that holding a team like the Knicks under 100 points was a big deal for a group that has struggled on that end for most of the year.

Heading into Sunday, the Lakers had been just 4-12 against teams with a .600 winning percentage or better, so there were real questions about whether they could compete with the top tier of the league.

The Knicks, sitting at 41-24 and fresh off a 142-103 blowout of the Denver Nuggets just two days earlier, were the kind of opponent that has given the Lakers fits all season long.

But the Lakers locked down on defense and held the Knicks to 42.7 percent shooting with 19 turnovers while New York went just 8-of-34 from beyond the arc.

With the win, the Lakers improved to 39-25 and sit in a solid spot in the Western Conference as the stretch run heats up, while the Knicks dropped a frustrating one on the second stop of their five-game road trip.

This is not a knock on LeBron James, because when he is healthy, he still brings a level of playmaking and leadership that very few players in history can match.

But the numbers tell a story that is hard to ignore.

The Lakers' offensive flow just looks smoother when Doncic and Reaves are the only two stars on the floor, and it seems like they both get more room to operate without a third ball-dominant player in the mix.

Reaves has been averaging 23.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game this season, while Doncic is putting up a league-leading 32.5 points to go with 7.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists.

When those two share the court without James, the spacing opens up and the pick-and-roll game between them becomes almost impossible to guard because defenses have to pick their poison.

Reaves showed that on Sunday's very first possession, drawing a foul on a three-point attempt before draining a three on the next trip down off a pass from Doncic.

Doncic was just as impressive, hitting a ridiculous fadeaway three from 28 feet while falling into the crowd during a dominant third quarter that put the game out of reach.

Rui Hachimura chipped in 13 points starting in place of James, and Marcus Smart was a game-high plus-27, anchoring the defense all afternoon.

With the playoffs getting closer, JJ Redick and the Lakers now have a clear reference point for what this backcourt can do when they are both aggressive and the rest of the team buys in on defense.

The question going forward is whether the Lakers can bring this same energy every night, especially once LeBron returns and the rotation changes again.