LeBron James’ “Do Your Job” Remark Ignited Austin Reaves’ Season High Performance in Boston Win

It looks like some tough love from LeBron James was what the Los Angeles Lakers needed to get back on track. The Purple and Gold pulled off a huge upset tonight by beating the top-seeded Boston Celtics. And what was even more impressive was that they did it without their superstars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, in the lineup.

Austin Reaves rose to the occasion and put up a season-high 32 points in the Lakers 114-105 win. After the game, Reaves revealed the secret motivation for his incredible performance. Reaves claimed the Lakers remembered LeBron’s harsh words following the Hawks’ loss and used that as motivation tonight against the Celtics.

The Lakers guard also said that no player was trying to do too much on the floor and was only focused on playing with high energy.

The Lakers’ incredible performance comes a day after LeBron said, “I don’t have any message for my teammates. Just go out and do your job.” King James was cut off by the media before he could go off on his teammates for their abysmal performance.

LeBron and AD sat out tonight’s game due to lingering injuries. The 4-time Champion has been dealing with left ankle peroneal tendinopathy for some weeks, and it finally took a toll on him. Anthony Davis missed his second straight game tonight due to bilateral Achilles tendinopathy and left hip spasm. No one expected the Lakers to come out with a win tonight against the stacked Celtics squad with LeBron and AD out of the lineup.

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Can the Lakers continue what they did tonight?

The Lakers role players put up a great team performance tonight to get themselves back to a .500 record. Not only did Austin Reaves steal the show with his season-high 32-point performance, but other players also played a huge role in the win. 5 players other than Reaves scored in double digits.

D’Angelo Russell returned to playing at a high level and scored 16 points, 14 assists, and 8 rebounds. Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura, and Taurean Prince held the Lakers’ defense and limited the Celtics to only 105 points. No one apart from Jayson Tatum could score more than 20 points in the game. Jaylen Brown could not even crack the double digits on the night he was named an All-Star.

The effort and heart the Lakers showed tonight is what they have been missing all season. If they can continue playing like this when LeBron and AD return from injury, they will be back in the Championship race. With the February 8 trade deadline looming, it will be interesting to see if tonight’s performance will play a role in Rob Pelinka’s eventual trade decisions.

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