Austin Reaves says short-handed Lakers got to ‘show the world’ what they can do vs. Celtics

It can't be easy to find many positives when two teammates, who are also among the best basketball players in the world, are sidelined heading into a matchup with arguably the best team in the NBA. But for the Los Angeles Lakers and Austin Reaves, they did just that, using their road game against the league-leading Boston Celtics as an opportunity to showcase what the other players can do.

The Lakers were without both LeBron James (ankle) and Anthony Davis (Achilles tendon, hip spasms) as they traveled to TD Garden to face the Celtics, who were 22-2 at home heading into Thursday. But behind Austin Reaves' stellar 32-point performance, in which he knocked down 7-of-10 attempts from three-point range, the Lakers stunned a heavily favored Celtics team 114-105.

After the game, Reaves spoke about the team's mindset ahead of arguably the toughest matchup of the season without their two stars, citing the opportunity for the group to "show the world" what they could do.

"Any time you don't have those two, it's going to have to be a team effort. You're going to have to come together collectively and just grind," Reaves said, per Spectrum SportsNet. "We're all talented players, and this is an opportunity to show the world what you can do."