Dave McMenaminESPN Staff Writer3:23 AM ET3 Minute Read
LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach Darvin Ham sat down in front of reporters after his team’s 122-111 win over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday and couldn’t help but smile at the performance of his redesigned starting lineup before asking any questions.
“Do you like the little trick up your sleeve?” asked Ham.
He was referring to his decision to put Austin Reaves, who scored a career-best 35 points, over Malik Beasley in the first session.
Reaves responded with a career-best 11 assists against the Suns to go with 25 points, and the Lakers beat the Western Conference No. 4 and moved back up to the 10th-ranked West, their last spot in the play-in tournament.
“For me, it’s really that same mindset that goes into every game and it’s a win — at any cost,” Reaves said of the starting job. “Victory. That’s all that really matters.”
The Lakers are now a half game ahead of the No. 11 Utah Jazz and just a game and a half behind the No. 6 Golden State Warriors with nine games remaining.
“Obviously we don’t want to be in that position,” Reaves said. “We would like to be first in the league. But that is the position we are in. … So, it’s getting hectic, but that’s why you’re playing the game. You want high-pressure moments, and you really want to play under the lights.”
The inclusion of Reaves in the starting group showed how strong LA’s offense can be when multiple playmakers share the floor. Not only did Reaves pose a threat, but Anthony Davis (27 points and five assists) and D’Angelo Russell (26 points and six assists) also put pressure on the Phoenix defense.
“I’m not going to lie to you,” Russell said of Reaves, “that guy’s good man.”
The sophomore wing came to the line 13 times and made 12, and LA attempted a season-high 46 free throws.
“I just felt like it made all the sense in the world,” Ham said of the cast change, which he shared with Reaves at practice on Tuesday. “And kudos to Beas who is a pro, understands the strategic part of this and Beas was deadlocked and ready. Came off the bench and hit two big threes for us and went in. That’s what we need, man.”
Both of Beasley’s 3s came in the second quarter as LA edged the Suns 36-26 to take a seven-point lead at halftime.
The third quarter belonged to Davis, who scored 14 points during that period.
“His dumbass coach just started calling his plays more, calling his number more,” Ham said of Davis’ second-half surge.
The Lakers grabbed a three-point lead in the fourth and the Suns narrowed to 99-98 with 7:29 left before LA capitalized on a 10-2 run in the next two minutes to finally take control.
But it started with Reaves.
“Obviously it was good for us to get off to a fast start and not get behind 10, 12 like we usually do,” Davis said of the roster change. “So Austin comes in and I think he got 10 points in the first quarter to help us get going and it’s been good for us.”
LA (36-37) hosts the West’s No. 8 team, the Oklahoma City Thunder (36-36), in another big seeding impact game on Friday. The season series is 1-1, so the tiebreak is at stake beyond the decisive game outcome.
“The lads know what’s at stake. We have to take advantage of this homestand,” said Ham. “It goes without saying that a few games slipped through our fingers [hurt us]. But that’s old news now. …Hopefully we come out on Friday with the same kind of juice and energy that we had tonight.