Short-handed LA Lakers stun Boston Celtics, New York Knicks stretch NBA win streak
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Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (left) shoots against Boston Celtics centre Kristaps Porzingis and guard Jaylen Brown.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW YORK – A Los Angeles Lakers team missing superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis simply “did their jobs at 110 per cent” as they stunned the Boston Celtics 114-105 on Feb 1, while the New York Knicks pushed their winning streak to nine games with a gutsy victory over Indiana.
Austin Reaves scored a season-high 32 points to lead six Los Angeles players in double figures, saying afterwards he and his teammates had taken to heart James’ blunt demand after the Jan 30 loss to Atlanta that they should “just go out and do your job”.
“It’s a great message,” Reaves told broadcaster TNT after their latest National Basketball Association (NBA) win.
“And coming from the greatest player ever, in my opinion, that’s what we should do.”
The latest meeting between the storied rivals, who share the record for most NBA titles with 17 apiece, lost some lustre when the Lakers ruled out James with a sore left ankle and Davis with hip spasms and an Achilles tendon injury.
In addition, the two teams are on different trajectories as the All-Star break approaches, with the Eastern Conference-leading Celtics (37-12) boasting the best record in the league while the Lakers (25-25), ninth in the West, have struggled to find consistency and had lost two straight games.
So the crowd at Boston’s TD Garden were stunned to near silence as the Lakers seized control in the second quarter, when Jayson Tatum’s eight points were the only scoring from the Celtics’ starters.
Boston, down 60-46 at half-time, cut a 16-point deficit to six in the third quarter. But the Lakers fought back and had a 88-78 advantage entering the fourth period.
Los Angeles were merely outscored 27-26 in the final quarter and it was enough for victory.
D’Angelo Russell and Jaxson Hayes scored 16 points each for the Lakers, with Russell adding eight rebounds and 14 assists. Reaves made seven of the Lakers’ 19 three-pointers.
Tatum led the Celtics with 23 points. Kristaps Porzingis and Sam Hauser had 17 points each, but Jaylen Brown scored just eight.
“Just playing the game the right way and competing at 110 per cent,” Reaves said of the key to handing the Celtics just their third home defeat of the season. “When we do that, we’ve proven that we can beat anybody.
“We’ve just got to eliminate those games where we go out and kind of go through the motions. We’ve got to go out there and compete 110 per cent every game and good things will happen.”
In New York, Jalen Brunson celebrated his first All-Star selection with 40 points, draining the go-ahead basket with 1min 46sec to play in the Knicks’ 109-105 triumph over the Pacers.
He scored 11 points in the fourth quarter as the Knicks rallied from a 15-point first-half deficit.
“That was fun,” Brunson told the crowd in an on-court interview.
“We kept fighting, man. No matter what, we’re going to keep fighting. That’s what we do.” AFP, REUTERS
