Hey everyone, I’m Dan Woike and welcome to The Times’ Lakers Newsletter, where we can see the end of a long 82-game season only to be paralyzed by the uncertainty of the playoffs.
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This week we’re going to look at where the Lakers stand and what matters over the final week-plus of the regular season. And that’s how engaged LeBron James is on the defensive end of the court.
The King and the one side of the court
Lakers forward LeBron James points up in the air while looking up court during a win over Houston Rockets at Crypto.com Arena on Monday.
(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)
If we had to distill the Lakers’ success to one factor between now and the end of the season, it’s the stuff we saw from LeBron James on Monday night against the Houston Rockets, a game in which he played 38 minutes and scored only 16 points.
Monday was the 43rd time in James’ career that he was on the court that long and scored so little, but his impact against the Rockets was undeniable. The Lakers tasked him with guarding Houston All-Star center Alperen Sengun, and despite James giving up height and size, the Rockets never were able to consistently punish him and the Lakers when they played a smaller lineup.
And with Houston trying to make a big play one last time and Sengun matched up with Austin Reaves on a switch, James sprinted over in a blink to block Sengun’s shot and help the Lakers get a huge win at home.
It was the kind of play that showed James at his best at this stage, a player who still possesses superhuman athleticism while using his mind to deploy it at the key moment.
“I read tendencies. I know tendencies a lot — what players like to do,” James said. “That was just a read and A.R. did a great job of not just giving ‘em a straight line to the basket. I just tried to cover for my teammate.”
As he’s worked his way back from the groin injury that cost him two weeks, James has struggled on the offensive end. The jump shot hasn’t been as consistent and he’s missed some easy ones at the basket.
But the way he defended Monday looked a lot more like the version of James that was leading the Lakers for a 30-game span in the middle of the season when they fielded the best defense in the NBA.
The Lakers have some fascinating matchups between now and the end of the regular season. They’ll face Golden State’s small-ball mastery Thursday. They’ve got two against Oklahoma City, tangling with one of the most physical teams in the NBA. And then they’ll be in Dallas, where James will be the best option for the Lakers to use on Anthony Davis.
James might be the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. But for this team to put itself in the best position for the playoffs, he needs to lead on the defensive end.
The Lakers’ seeding and season depend on it.
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Song of the week
“In Too Deep” by Genesis
This is how I feel about the season. Yeah, I’d like to maybe take a few days off to reset, but we’ve come so far without one. I’m in too deep and if I’m really run down, I’ll have to take some Su-Su-Sudafed.