Austin Reaves ties Kobe Bryant for unique Laker record, recalls LeBron James' harsh comment: "It's a great message"
The LA Lakers snapped a two-game losing streak with a 114-105 win over the Boston Celtics on Thursday, behind a record-setting performance of Austin Reaves. The former Oklahoma Sooner dropped seven 3-pointers, tying a franchise record set by the late Kobe Bryant, who made 7+ three-point baskets and fjnished with 32 points against the Celtics.
Reaves scored 32 points and made seven of 10 3-pointers against the Boston Celtics, all without NBA All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
In the post-game interview, Reaves responded to whether his performance was a response to LeBron James' comments about his teammates following the 138-122 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday.
"I don't have any message for my teammates. Just go out and do your job," said James after the loss to the Hawks.
Austin Reaves recognizes that James' remarks resonated with the team and concurs that they should take heed of the criticism from the 20-time NBA All-Star.
"It's a great message. You know coming from the greatest player in my opinion, that's what we should do. Tonight, we showed that we listened, and we are ready to roll."
The LA Lakers' win pushed their record to 25-25. They are ninth in the Western Conference, behind the Dallas Mavericks by two games. Next on their schedule are the New York Knicks, whom they visit on Saturday at the Madison Square Garden.
Austin Reaves wants LA Lakers to address communication issues amidst LeBron James comments
Before the matchup with the Boston Celtics, Austin Reaves was asked in the Spectrum Sportsnet about the LA Lakers' losing woes. The third-year swingman points out that the team needs to work on their communication and addressing issues.
"In any situation in life, you address what you don’t like and what can make you better as a person, as a team," said Reaves.
"But we have to come together as a group, an organization and figure out exactly what it is that we can do better as a collective group to be better."
Reaves logged in his season-high in points to help the Lakers even up their win-loss record. His average in the first 49 games this season is 15.2 points, 5.2 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.6 3-pointers per game.