Lakers News: D’Angelo Russell & Austin Reaves Honor Jaxson Hayes’ Effort Against Celtics
The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics on the road on Thursday night, but it required a whole team effort. Much credit will be given to D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves, and for good reason, but big man Jaxson Hayes could have had the most influence on the outcome.
In the nine-point win, the big man recorded his greatest performance while wearing a Lakers uniform, finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and three steals. Hayes just played with a contagious enthusiasm that affected the rest of the squad, and six of those rebounds were offensive.
Reaves later complimented Hayes’ defensive effort and his capacity to play defense without drawing a foul in some really challenging circumstances, according to Spectrum SportsNet:
“I believe you can tell if you follow basketball and know anything about the sport. As he mentioned, it’s difficult to guard the ball without fouling against a squad like this, especially Tatum, who consistently crosses the line. A few times when he put him in iso scenarios, Jaxson managed to maintain his position in front of the group, display his hands, and get deflections, which allowed us to escape during the transition. Not only that, but he also makes hustle plays and grabs rebounds that aren’t recorded on the stat sheet.
Russell agreed, complimenting him not only for his on-court work but also for his season-long approach and readiness for his chance.
I give him credit, dude. As a rookie player in the league, you are moved around a little and put in and taken out of the lineup, but you always maintain your optimistic outlook. I’ve seen him; even if he could experience it eventually, he manages to maintain his composure and professionalism. He was therefore prepared when he went out to play tonight and noticed AD wasn’t playing. His mind was in the right place, so he was prepared for the chance when it came. enormously large on defense. Although he scored and recorded double-doubles, he was the game’s best defensive player. Give him credit.
Nobody wants to be hurt, especially not the All-Stars on your team. team, but they do give others a chance to demonstrate their abilities. Hayes hasn’t played much lately, but he showed what he can do Thursday evening when given consistent playing time.
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Austin Reaves: Role players were able to demonstrate their abilities due to injuries
The Lakers had to rally around each other and each other’s contributions in order to defeat the Celtics on the road without their two best players. According to Austin Reaves, LeBron and Davis’ absences provided the supporting players with an opportunity to shine, which they seized.
Reaves observed that they merely got together as a team and played as hard as they could without doing anything special. And they’ll need to perform the same action whenever LeBron and Davis return.
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