The Lakeshow Review

The Los Angeles Lakers came out last night and took care of business. In the midst of a heated playoff race, one where many scenarios where up for grabs, the Lakers did their part to control their own destiny and lock up the 3 seed in the Western Conference. And they did so convincingly. Beating the Houston Rockets in Los Angeles by a score of 140-109.

Luka Dončić led the Lakers with 39 points (on 13-19 from the field), while adding 8 boards, 7 assists and a steal. Austin Reaves chipped in with 23 points (on 9-15 shooting) to go with 7 rebounds and 6 assists. The Rockets, who have already clinched the 2 seed in the Western Conference, opted to rest their starters. However, they received great production from young stud Cam Whitmore (who the Lakers foolishly passed on during the 2023 NBA Draft, never forget!) to the tune of 34 points (on a clean 13-19 from the field). All in all, it was nice to see the team come out focused and put the clamps down on this game. Yes, the Rockets all but ceded the contest by shelving their starters, but they’re still an extremely well coached team and one who the Lakers may encounter down the line.

Xs and Os wise, the Lakers didn’t do anything special in this game, but were definitely solid. They were able to count on the individual brilliance of Luka Dončić (39 points) and Austin Reaves (23 points). Early on, they spread the floor with their patent 5 out offense. They were able to exploit switches out in the perimeter as well as provide ample space for their main ballhandlers to create offense. Luka in particular, utilized his unique ability to collapse the help defense to find open shooters like Reaves and Dorian Finney-Smith (who scored 18 points on 6 made three pointers). LeBron James also had a strong performance, scoring 14 points in 22 minutes, before exiting the game midway in the 3rd quarter due to injury. But it did not make much difference, as Luka Dončić proved to be the star of the game once again. In this game, he unleashed the full offensive arsenal, from driving to dishing to midrange pull-ups to post-ups to stepback threes. In particular, when he gets that midrange going, he’s virtually unstoppable. If not for his six missed free throws (8-14 from the stripe) he likely cruises to yet another 40 point outing. Thankfully, no late game heroics were needed, as JJ Redick pulled his starters thru the 4th quarter as the game was seemingly in hand and the Lakers won comfortably.

Lakers Head Coach JJ Redick remarked a few days ago that he wanted to see the team win all remaining games to clinch their playoff seed. Well, they came one game shy of meeting that objective. Outside of their gut-wrenching loss to Oklahoma City five days ago (one that saw Luka Dončić receive a questionable ejection) the team has played good basketball, by winning four out of their last five contest to up their record to 50-31, securing the 3 seed in the Western Conference. Outside of a disappointing loss to Golden State a little over a week ago, the team has managed to finish strong despite some rocky stretches during the last few months, where both LeBron and Luka have shuffled in and out of the lineup due to injury.

Alas, we finally have some clarity, as the LA Lakers are locked in to the 3 seed in the West. All that’s left now is how seeds 4-8 will shape out. If Golden State beats the LA Clippers on Sunday, then they jump to the 6 seed. However if the Clippers prevail against Golden State, Minnesota will likely take the 6 seed, dropping Golden State to 7. This game in particular has substantial implications for both the Warriors and the Clippers as the loser will likely fall into the play-in. Both Minnesota and Denver are both expected to win their final contests. Minnesota will play Utah, who are tanking, and Denver will play Houston, who are set to rest their starters once more. So the Clippers/Golden State game will be the one to watch as far as how the West’s bracket will play out. As usual, the Western Conference has proven to be quite the dogfight this season. Outside of Oklahoma City’s dominance, no playoff team has really managed to create much distance from each other. It’s great to see the Lakers take care of their business and finish strong. but there are still many challenges, as now the real season begins. Hopefully these next few days will be vital as far as the team being able to catch their breath and prepare for the postseason. Namely LeBron who has battled some nagging (groin) injuries late in the season. After Sunday’s games are finalized and the play-in tournament is done, we’ll know for sure what the West playoff bracket will look like. In the meantime, Go Lakers.