Lakers teammates (from left) Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves celebrate during the second half of the Lakers’ Game 1 playoff win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.(Justin Ford / Getty Images)

BY AUSTIN KNOBLAUCHASSISTANT EDITOR, SPORTS 

Things like this don’t just happen. These moments are built over lifetimes, from the hoop on the Reaves’ family farm in Newark, Ark., to on-court arguments with LeBron James, a player who has openly embraced Reaves.

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James and Anthony Davis, the only two Lakers left from the team that won the NBA title in 2020, gave way in the fourth quarter for Reaves and reserve Rui Hachimura, deferring while the stars of the night carried the Lakers home in a 128-112 win.

“We found something that was going,” James said. “And that’s the old saying, ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.’”

Stars in the postseason, the Lakers would later say, should come from all over the place. The first and second options, they’ll eventually get theirs, but with all the eyes focused in their direction, the role players need to shine.

Sunday, Reaves scored 14 of his 23 points in the fourth, including nine straight to extinguish Memphis’ final rally. And Hachimura hit catch-and-shoot threes every time teammates found him, tying the Lakers’ record for most points by a reserve in the postseason with 29.

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The big game from the Lakers’ role players came on a night when two injuries to stars seemed like they could change the first-round playoff series.