[McMenamin] Doncic leads the league in free throw attempts per game, while Reaves is fourth. They are in range to become the first teammates to each average 9.0 or more free throw attempts per game since Harden and Dwight Howard did so for the Houston Rockets in 2013-14.
“He was like, ‘Come over. We’re bowling,’” Reaves told ESPN.
Reaves made the 10-minute drive to his teammate’s crib, where he found not only Doncic, but two of Doncic’s friends, plus Lakers assistant coach Greg St. Jean and L.A.’s head video coordinator, Michael Wexler, awaiting his arrival.
Three-man teams were formed. Games were played. Scores were kept.
“But it all really came down to the 1-on-1 at the end,” Reaves said.
This is where Reaves’ and Doncic’s accounts of the night diverge.
“I won,” Doncic told ESPN.
“We bowled for, I think, maybe three games,” Reaves said. “And, yeah, I’m 3-0.”
“I’m sure he said he won,” Doncic said when informed of Reaves’ answer.
With no wiggle room to further protest Reaves, short of calling him a liar, Doncic took a different tact.
“I let him, you know, get comfortable,” Doncic said. “It was his first time in the house, so I let him get comfortable.”
And so goes the relationship between the Lakers’ starting backcourt mates.“Bron said that he acted like I acted my rookie year: never talked,” Reaves said. “Kind of just stayed to himself. Which is understandable. I mean, with the crazy events that happened, you know it’s going to take time to get used to a new situation.”
After spending the first 5 ½ years of his career in Dallas, Doncic gravitated toward people he already knew when he first got to L.A., sources told ESPN.
He worked out with St. Jean, who previously had been an assistant for the Mavs. He sat near Maxi Kleber, who was included in the deal for Anthony Davis.
He conversed with coach JJ Redick, who had been his teammate, briefly, in Dallas and whom he had stayed in touch with as Redick embarked on a media career. (“I really respect him,” Doncic said of Redick during his introductory press conference. “You don’t see me go on podcasts. I went on his podcast twice.”)
And he would get most animated when he was around Dorian Finney-Smith, another former teammate with the Mavs, whom L.A. acquired in a trade a couple months before Doncic’s arrival.
A typical interaction would start with Doncic teasing Finney-Smith about his belly button being an “outie,” and Finney-Smith sparring right back by wondering how Doncic could be slower than him when he was six years younger.
Even after the disappointment of the Lakers’ first-round playoff loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves -- a series in which a stomach bug derailed Doncic in Game 3 and Reaves missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have forced overtime in Game 4 – the duo still hadn’t developed a connection.
So far, that simplicity has reaped considerable rewards. Doncic’s and Reaves’ combined scoring average of 61.4 points per game is the second-most by a duo in the last 60 years, according to ESPN Insights. James Harden and Russell Westbrook combined for 61.6 points per game in 2019-20.
They both constantly pressure defenses and draw fouls when they do. The Lakers lead all teams in points per direct drive per game, which is fueled by Reaves, who ranks first among all players with at least 200 drives this season. Doncic is second, according to GeniusIQ.
Doncic leads the league in free throw attempts per game, while Reaves is fourth. They are in range to become the first teammates to each average 9.0 or more free throw attempts per game since Harden and Dwight Howard did so for the Houston Rockets in 2013-14.
While they have joint command of the offense - in the games they’ve played together, Doncic and Reaves have scored or assisted on 288 of the 402 shots the Lakers have made (72%) - they’ve both had stretches where they’ve starred solo.
Doncic, for his part, scored 92 points in the Lakers’ first two games of the season.
After the second game – in which Doncic scored 49 points on 14-for-23 shooting, corralled 11 rebounds and dished out 8 assists in the Lakers’ 128-110 win over the Timberwolves – Reaves told ESPN that he thought Doncic could average 40 for the whole season.
When Doncic was told of Reaves’ opinion, he issued his own.
“Austin’s stupid,” he said.
Doncic then sat out the Lakers’ next three games with a left finger sprain and lower left leg contusion, and it was Reaves’ turn.
He averaged 40 points, 10 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals while guiding L.A. to a 2-1 record, punctuating the stretch with a game-winning floater at the buzzer to secure another victory against that same Wolves team that had ended their season a few months back.
If Doncic wasn’t sold on Reaves by that point, watching him dominate – and win – while he and James were in street clothes more than did it.
“He’s realizing, ‘F—, Austin is good!’” a team source told ESPN. “It was the same way he loved [Jalen] Brunson and loved Kyrie [Irving]. There’s an appreciation for great players.”
Despite the Lakers’ 19-9 start, they rank 24th in defense. The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Detroit Pistons, which sit atop the West and East standings, respectively, rank No. 1 and No. 2.
“For the start of the season, I was playing great defense,” Doncic, who is hoping to play on Christmas Day after dealing with a left calf contusion, told ESPN. “Trying to get back to that.”
Reaves, who recently missed three games with a mild left calf strain before coming off the bench Tuesday in Phoenix, agrees.
“I think we just got to get healthy and log minutes together and guard with all five guys on the court,” he said. “You have to be locked into every little detail, every little rotation. When you do that, that’s when you become a good defense.”
It figures to be a season-long challenge for this Lakers team, especially with the roster as presently constructed.
But it’s one that Doncic and Reaves won’t shy away from. And one in which Doncic and Reaves can channel their competitive spirits together – including on Thursday against the dynamic Houston Rockets.
Meanwhile, their relationship continues to grow.