After an impressive win against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night, Austin Reaves and the Los Angeles Lakers had to travel to Boston to take on the Celtics on the second night of a back-to-back.
In these types of scenarios, L.A. tends to play it cautiously with its players and give them appropriate rest days. That meant that LeBron James was out, along with Luka Doncic and Marcus Smart.
Boston took advantage of a shorthanded Lakers team as they outscored them 39-17 in the first quarter and never looked back. Despite efforts to cut into a large deficit, the Celtics led wire-to-wire and coasted to a 126-105 win over L.A.
Dud performances are typical on the second night of a back-to-back, but Austin Reaves was not willing to give his team and himself an excuse for their poor start, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“We get the opportunity to play the game we love almost every night. Unfortunately, sometimes it is back-to-backs when you get in late. But at the same time, you still get an opportunity to play the game you love. So you just find some energy somewhere to try to go compete at the highest level. I just wanted to give us an opportunity to fight back into the game.”
The Celtics are not shy about getting up 3-point attempts and despite quality defense at times from the Lakers, they still shot a ridiculous 53% from distance on 45 attempts. That is not a winning recipe and that poor start in the first contributed to that, which Reaves discussed while taking accountability for his own poor start:
“I don’t know, they just made a lot of shots in the first quarter… That was a pretty bad quarter. I thought I was really bad to start the game, missed some shots, had some turnovers. I gotta be better and we just gotta come out of the gate a little hotter.”
Boston came out with more force and rattled the Lakers, who had come off an emotionally draining game in Toronto and were clearly playing with tired legs. L.A. struggled to generate quality looks while their rivals scored with ease.
The focus now shifts to Sunday, where the Lakers hope to welcome back James, Doncic and perhaps Smart back to the lineup as they look to end their road trip on a high note against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Austin Reaves plans to visit Luka Doncic in Slovenia this summer
It has not taken long for Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves to develop a strong relationship on and off the floor. In fact, Reaves recently revealed he plans to visit his new friend in Slovenia this upcoming summer.
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