The Los Angeles Lakers made light work of the undermanned Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, beating them 120-108 at Crypto.com Arena. It was the third win in a row for the Lakers and Austin Reaves impressed in this one, just as he had on the last two occasions.
Reaves had 22 points, five rebounds, eight assists, two steals and one block against the Nuggets. The 26-year-old has been playing ever so well for the Lakers recently and is being hailed in some corners as the best third option in the NBA. While that’s high praise, Lakers legend James Worthy went a step further on Spectrum Sportsnet as he compared Reaves to Hall of Famer Pete Maravich.
“I’m telling you, people,” Worthy said, via Lakers Daily. “Google ‘Pistol Pete’. That’s him.”
Reaves did look like Maravich on occasion against the Nuggets. He had the ball on a string at times and made defenders look foolish, the way “Pistol Pete” used to on a nightly basis.
Maravich, who played in the NBA from 1970 to 1980, was arguably the most exciting player to watch of his era. He was a showman and was way ahead of his time as well. Maravich won a scoring title and made five All-Star teams in a career, and he could have done so much more too had he not been bogged down by knee injuries.
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The Lakers would love it if Reaves becomes even half the player Maravich was. The guard has greatly improved year after year, and it will be interesting to see if he takes another big leap in the coming years.
Related: Stephen A. Smith Makes Bold Austin Reaves Statement