It seemed like the walls were caving in on the Los Angeles Lakers; they entered their Thursday night battle against the Boston Celtics having lost two straight in blowout fashion, and to make matters worse, both LeBron James and Anthony Davis were out for the rivalry matchup. But what seemed like a surefire loss for the Lakers turned into the quintessential trap game for the Celtics, with Austin Reaves exploding for perhaps the best game of his season in a 114-105 win.

Reaves hasn't quite recaptured the late-season magic that propelled his stock to new heights to end the 2022-23 season. But this was a step in the right direction. He dropped a game-high 32 points, showcasing the three-level scoring that made him one of the Lakers' most dangerous weapons.

For Austin Reaves to do this amid all the trade speculation surrounding the Lakers is nothing short of remarkable, and fans of the Purple and Gold may have no one else but LeBron James to thank for lighting a fire underneath the 25-year old guard. According to the Kamenetzky Brothers, the hosts of Locked on Lakers podcast, “LeBron's recent ‘go out and do your job' postgame quote resonated” with Reaves and the entire team.

James has a tendency of becoming passive-aggressive when he's going through a plethora of frustrations, and his comments following the Lakers' blowout loss to the Hawks on Tuesday certainly fits that bill. But James, being as great as he is, also demands greatness out of his teammates. But greatness, in this case for Austin Reaves and company, came in the form of playing doubly hard, giving more second efforts and ratcheting up the intensity on both ends of the court.

It remains unclear what the Lakers will be doing to try and right the ship with there being less than a week before the trade deadline passes. But what a victory that was for LA in the face of so much adversity, both on the players' and coaches' side of things. One thing's for sure: these Lakers will not go down without a fight, as evidenced by their excellent effort in the win over the Celtics.