The repeat of the first round of the 2023 playoffs got heated up early on Friday night. The Memphis Grizzlies visited the Los Angeles Lakers for a Friday night encounter, and Austin Reaves spiced it up early. With only five minutes down in the first quarter, Reaves pulled out a ‘too small” celebration against the 6’ 5 Grizzlies forward Desmond Bane, after dropping a bucket over him.

The Grizzlies haven’t been the same since the return of their superstar, Ja Morant. The team had only managed to win 5 games in Morant 25-game absence, but after that the team has been only been cruising forward. This has only increased the hype around the match-ups within the game against the Lakers on Friday night. However, it wasn’t Morant who turned up the heat. It was Austin Reaves.

Austin Reaves disrespects Desmond Bane

The 25-year-old Austin Reaves already has the history of the ‘too small’ celebration in the past. Notably, one was against Patrick Beverley in the last season. The celebration came out as a revenge when Beverley pulled out ‘too small’ celebration on LeBron James. In the next match-up, Reaves dropped a bucket on Bev and repaid him with the same celebration.

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Similarly, on Friday night, Reaves repeated it against Desmond Bane. However, there isn’t any clarity on the reason behind Reaves’ gesture.

Around a seven-minute mark in the first quarter, Reaves drove the ball into the court and ran up the lane against Bane to drop the bucket. He stopped right in front of the free throw line, dropped a jumper over him, and immediately pulled out the disrespectful celebration.

However, it was Desmond Bane, who had the last laugh. Bane outscored Reaves with 24 points, with 5-8 3-point FG.

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Apart from that, Bane also snatched the victory from the Lakers late in the game.

Bane does the finishing job

Both teams stepped into the fourth quarter with their scores level 94. The game could have turned in any team’s favor, and the Grizzlies finished the game with crucial buckets at the end. Seven minutes into the quarter, the visitors took a 9-point lead with a flurry of buckets from Jaren Jackson Jr. and Ziaire Williams.

While the Lakers could have easily chased back the lead as the game still had 5 minutes left. Desmond Bane made it difficult for the home team as he dropped 8 points in no time, leaving the Lakers searching for buckets.

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What do you make of Austin Reaves disrespectful gesture? Let us know in the comments below.