Lakers' Austin Reaves Earns Hero Status Among Fans in Win over Suns Without LeBron

Austin Reaves has arrived after leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 122-111 win over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.

After head coach Darvin Ham teased having "something up his sleeve" going into the game, Reaves was moved into the starting lineup for the first time since Jan. 4. The 24-year-old responded with 25 points and 11 assists to earn his first double-double of the season.

Wednesday's performance came after Reaves scored a career-high 35 points against the Orlando Magic three days earlier.

Ham's decision to put Reaves in the starting lineup moved Malik Beasley to the bench. Beasley, who started each of the previous 14 games, has been struggling with 11.6 points per contest on 37.7 percent shooting from the field since Feb. 15.

Fans and analysts had a lot of praise for Reaves as he continues to ascend in his second season:

Reaves and the rest of the Lakers' starting lineup put on a clinic against Phoenix's defense. Reaves, Anthony Davis and D'Angelo Russell all scored at least 25 points. Reaves and Davis combined to go 19-of-23 from the free-throw line.

The Suns took exception to the free-throw disparity, with the Lakers having a 46-20 advantage.

While the foul calls certainly had an impact on the outcome, Reaves picking apart the Phoenix defense should be the bigger concern for Monty Williams' group.

In 12 games since LeBron James went down with a foot injury, Reaves is averaging 18.3 points on 56.8 percent shooting (41.0 percent from three) and 5.8 assists. He has become an integral part of the rotation for Ham down the stretch this season.

It couldn't have come at a better time for the Lakers, who moved into 10th place in the Western Conference standings with Wednesday's victory. They will look to extend their winning streak to three games on Friday against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Crypto.com Arena.