Lakers Beat Pistons with Luka Injured, Box Score Stats & Highlights for Cade, Reaves, Top Players

The Los Angeles Lakers have looked like championship contenders amid an MVP-caliber start from Luka Dončić, but the team got one of their biggest tests of the season so far, taking on the Detroit Pistons without their star.

The Lakers passed the test, beating the Pistons 121-116 despite being without Dončić.

Player	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks
Austin Reaves, LAL	43	5	4	0	0
Walker Kessler, LAL	12	16	4	1	3
Ziaire Williams, LAL	17	2	0	0	1
Cade Cunningham, DET	14	4	8	2	0
Daniss Jenkins, DET	31	5	4	1	0
Kevin Huerter, DET	24	5	5	2	5

Los Angeles was led by strong play from Austin Reaves, who helped make up for the absence of Dončić. Though Dončić has been the primary scorer for Los Angeles, Reaves has put together a solid year so far, coming into Sunday's game averaging 23.5 points per game. His 43 points on Sunday were a season high.

A slow night from Cade Cunningham also helped the Lakers out, as the star point guard couldn't get much going on offense. Daniss Jenkins was the only Piston who managed to find his rhythm, putting together a solid night off the bench.

The Lakers improved to 9-2 with the win, moving them into first place in the Western Conference, while the Pistons fell to 6-3.

Dončić has had an unbelievable start to the season, averaging 40.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game as he seeks both his first championship and his first MVP.

A back injury forced him to miss Sunday's game, but it's a good sign that the Lakers were able to get the job done without him.