"He really outshined the 'best duo' tonight": NBA fans roast Celtics’ struggle as Austin Reaves tops Tatum and Brown in points
Austin Reaves was unstoppable at TD Garden and led the LA Lakers past the Boston Celtics (114-105). The young star guard posted a game-high 32 points, on 10/18 shooting and 7/10 from beyond the arc. D'Angelo Russell flirted with a triple-double for the winners with 16 points, 14 assists and eight rebounds.
On the other hand, the Celtics saw their megastars struggle in this one. Jayson Tatum had 23 points, on 8/21 shooting and 5/10 from 3. Kristaps Porzingis scored 17 points, on 7/15 shooting, with the majority of them coming in the fourth quarter.
Jrue Holiday had eight points, Derrick White added nine and Jaylen Brown had a rough shooting night with eight points on 4/12 shooting. The Lakers improved to .500 (25-25), while the Celtics dropped to 37-12, but they still hold the best record in the NBA.
NBA fans took to social media after the game and reacted to the fact that Austin Reaves outscored Boston's megastar duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Reaves had 32 points, while Tatum and Brown combined for 31.
"Austin Reaves > Tatum & Brown, clearly"
"REAVES IS HIMMM"
"deff not the best duo in the Nba"
"Jayson Tatum has no help no excuses for nobody when Boston makes the finals"
"He really outshined the "best duo" tonight, huh?"
"The league keeps hating on AR15 but this is why he’s untouchable"
"“tatum and brown are the best duo in the league”"
Austin Reaves excited about Lakers' win over Celtics amid injury woes
The LA Lakers had to play the Boston Celtics without their two megastars. LeBron James was out because of an ankle injury, while injuries to his Achilles and hip sidelined Anthony Davis.
Still, Austin Reaves, D'Angelo Russell and the rest of the team stepped up and helped the 17-time NBA champions get back on track and maintain a playoff push.
"We're all talented players. And this was an opportunity to show the world what you can do. Before the game we come together and was like, 'Look, the least we can do is we can do is go out there and play as hard as we can and live with the results,'" Austin Reaves said, according to NBA.com.
"It wasn't nothing special. It wasn't like we was out there running a million set plays. We went out there and competed. We gave it 110% on the defensive end. We competed."
The Lakers snapped a two-game losing skid and maintained their play-in spot. Still, the Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors are within a two-game reach in the play-in battle.
For their part, the Celtics were not affected by this defeat in the standings, as the Milwaukee Bucks (32-16) are five games behind them.