The Los Angeles Lakers went into Thursday night’s primetime battle against the Boston Celtics knowing that they would be without their two superstars in LeBron James and Anthony Davis. This left L.A. with a starting lineup of D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Taurean Prince, Jarred Vanderbilt and Jaxson Hayes against the team with the best record in the entire league.
Yet, somehow, the Lakers put together perhaps their best effort of the season and walked out of Boston with a victory. And it wasn’t just a skated-by win, as the Lakers led by 14 at halftime and 10 after three quarters. It was a convincing victory that saw six players finish in double figures while Reaves led the way with 32 on the night.
Reaves knew the odds were stacked against the Lakers with the news that James and Davis would be out, but he and the entire L.A. roster saw the game as an opportunity for them, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Anytime you don’t have one of those two, it’s gonna have to be a team effort. We had to come together collectively and just grind. We’re all talented players and this is an opportunity to show the world what you can do. This man [Jaxson Hayes] was amazing tonight and he just now got back in the lineup, two games ago he was getting DNPs and tonight, he was one of the best players on the floor. Before the game, we came together and were like look, the least we can do is come together and play as hard as we can and live with the results.”
The Lakers guard also believes the team didn’t do anything out of the ordinary in terms of everyone’s individual abilities, meaning that type of output should be replicable even with James and Davis back in the lineup:
“I think if you remember Bron’s quote the other night, go out and do your job. I feel like that’s just what we did tonight. It wasn’t nothing special, it wasn’t like we were out there running a million sets and plays. We went out there and competed our ass off. We gave it 110% and on the defensive end, we competed and we didn’t foul much. Just bringing those two back, we got to do the same thing. We don’t have to do anything different, just compete at a super high level.”
The Lakers have to hope that a performance like that could be a turning point in a season that has seen them struggle to get out of the .500 rollercoaster. They have been unable to string together multiple strong outings in a row, but games like this can be the impetus for turnarounds.
Lakers’ Jarred Vanderbilt expected to miss significant time
Vanderbilt needed an X-ray following the game on his right foot after injuring it during the game. The X-ray came back negative, but further testing will be done to confirm the severity of the injury and it looks like he is expected to miss significant time.
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