laker

The Lakers 128-117 winwon, Luka Doncic dominated and then the conversation moved forward, because even though a 128-117 win over the slumping Indiana Pacers on Friday counts all the same in the tight Western Conference standings, it doesn’t say as much about the Lakers as what comes next.

Buoyed by four recent wins over struggling teams, the Lakers are still searching for a statement victory to announce themselves as legitimate contenders in the crowded Western Conference. The Lakers (38-25) are comfortably in sixth place in the West, but just 3-11 against teams that are .600 or better.

Two of the wins came in the first two weeks of the season. The losses have been ugly: an average margin of 19.9 points per defeat.

Now with five of their next six games against teams that are .600 or better — starting with Sunday’s 12:30 p.m. contest against the New York Knicks — the Lakers get a chance to prove their potential to make a playoff run.

Lakers guard Austin Reaves drives to the basket as he’s chased by Indiana Pacers guards Quenton Jackson and Aaron Nesmith Friday at Crypto.com Arena.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

“You play teams that are playing winning basketball and [have] winning records, it definitely can build some confidence in the group,” guard Luke Kennard said Friday. “But I know even some of the close games we’ve lost just recently, I know we’ve done some really good things. … We know what we have in the locker room and in this group.”

Even a day and a win later, the Lakers were still ruing Thursday’s road loss in Denver. With a chance to jump to fifth place in the standings, they let the Nuggets (39-25) open the game on an 11-point run. Denver opened up a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter.

But unlike many of their other losses to playoff-contending teams, the Lakers answered Denver’s run. They cut it to one with 2:05 left before the Nuggets held on for the victory.

“That was a game that we’ve broken throughout the year, in games like that,” coach JJ Redick said. “And they made a number of runs that went to double digits and we just kept playing and had a chance. … I’m confident we’re going to find it. How we’re going to find it, that’s where it’s —”

Redick cut off his own thought as he searched for the words.

“You got to figure it out on a daily basis sometimes,” the coach concluded with a tight smile.

Lakers center Jaxson Hayes scores at the rim in front of Indiana Pacers guard Ben Sheppard Friday at Crypto.com Arena.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

The Lakers figured it out Friday behind a dazzling 44-point performance from Doncic, who leads the NBA with 10 40-point games this season. The NBA’s leading scorer didn’t even play during the fourth quarter of the blowout.

Doncic’s brilliance was more than enough against the bottom-feeding Pacers, who, at 15-48, are playing more for lottery position than postseason hopes. But the Knicks (41-23) have won four of their last five games, including convincing wins over San Antonio and Denver. The only recent loss was a three-point defeat to Oklahoma City.

Lakers forward LeBron James is expected to be available for Sunday’s marquee game after injuring his elbow late in the loss to the Nuggets and missing Friday’s game. Centers Deandre Ayton (left knee soreness) and Maxi Kleber (lumbar back strain) are day-to-day.

Led by Jalen Brunson’s 26.2 points and 6.5 assists per game, the Knicks have the NBA’s third-best offense. Conversely, the Lakers are 21st in defensive rating.

The Lakers emphasized the importance of team defense all season, but Marcus Smart is “the only one that consistently is just doing what he’s supposed to do” on defense, Redick said Friday. Sometimes the former defensive player of the year is forced to overcompensate for his teammates’ mistakes.

Doncic’s defensive lapses are magnified, especially with the team’s recent inconsistencies. But Doncic’s oft-criticized defense has provided some bright spots, Redick said.

When he switches onto the ball, Doncic gives up the lowest number of points per possession among the Lakers’ perimeter players, Redick said. He led the Lakers in rebounding Friday with nine boards, all defensive. Doncic had both of the team’s blocks against the Pacers.

“He’s shown that he can contain the basketball,” Redick said of Doncic’s defense. “He’s obviously one of the best wing defensive rebounders in the NBA. He’s able to generate steals and deflections. And, with some prodding, he’s taking charges as well.”

Doncic has drawn 11 charges this season, the most for a single year in his NBA career.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Lakers seemingly lost their mojo after the All-Star break, with three consecutive losses leaving them in search of the “consistency” and “togetherness” they had earlier in the season.

Their 129-101 win over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday at Chase Center was a step in the right direction, even if the Warriors didn’t offer much of a challenge.

The Lakers (35-24) built a 17-point lead in the first quarter, stretched it to 24 in the second quarter and to 30 points in the third before leading by 32 in the fourth and coasting the rest of the way.

“It goes back to finding that consistent level of playing the right way on both ends, doing what we’re supposed to be doing, executing at a high level,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “You saw those trends. We haven’t had it for a sustained, like, full stretch of a game, really. It’s come in spurts in all four of our games that we played prior to this. It was definitely our most complete game post-All-Star break.”

Luka Doncic led the charge with 26 points, eight assists and six rebounds in just 29 minutes. LeBron James was strong with 22 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in 28 minutes. He also made the 1,000th three-pointer of his career. Austin Reaves had 18 points in 28 minutes.

Luke Kennard scored 16 points, his best with the Lakers so far, and Jake LaRavia had 15 points off the bench.

“We just needed to get a win … get back on the right front and I think we did that tonight,” James said.

He then added, “It’s been a while since we’ve had a 48-minute game where we was able to sustain the effort and I just thought we came out with the right mindset. Obviously dropping the last three, last two at home and then the Phoenix game was a tough one. So, we just came in with the right mindset and understanding the assignment and we took care of business.”

The Lakers got it done on offense, shooting 53% from the field and 46% from three-point range.

Lakers star LeBron James shoots a three-pointer over Golden State Warriors guard Pat Spencer in the first half Saturday.

(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)

“We certainly made some threes,” Redick said. “LeBron made a couple of iso threes. Luka got hot to start the third quarter with some set plays and then the iso three, the second one in transition on the left wing. It wasn’t like all our threes were coming from that, but I just thought the ball was moving tonight.”

They faced a Warriors team (31-29) playing without Stephen Curry (right knee), Jimmy Butler (right anterior cruciate ligament surgery) and Kristaps Porzingis (illness). Still, a win was far from guaranteed since the Lakers lost to an injury-depleted Phoenix Suns team on Thursday.

The Lakers are 2-3 since the All-Star break. They face the Sacramento Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday night, as they try to remain in the top six in the Western Conference.

“Like I said before the game, these guys want to do it right,” Redick said. “They are trying. I know our staff, myself, we’re always looking for answers and solutions. That’s what this is. We’re trying to find solutions, and I said before the game, I’m confident we are going to find that level that we want to get to.

“It’s been partially just because of the disruptions of lineups and different factors. We just haven’t had the continuity that I thought we were going to have coming into the year and it’s taken longer than I thought. But I’m confident that we are going to get there.”

Even with back-to-back defeats to Oklahoma City and San Antonio, the Lakers went 7-4 ahead of the All-Star break. The Lakers won their first game after the break against the Clippers before losing to Boston, Orlando and Phoenix.

That put the Lakers in the sixth spot in the West and struggling to find their groove again.

“At the end of the day, I just think our minds was right,” James said. “The numbers speak for itself. You can talk about the numbers, but I just think mentally we knew what we was against. We knew how we lost these last three games and it didn’t sit well with us obviously. We just came out and we just executed.”

Note: Lakers forward Rui Hachimura missed his second straight game because “he’s still under the weather,” Redick said.

Former Virginia coach Tony Bennett, who led the Cavaliers to the 2019 national title, has been hired by the Lakers as an NBA draft advisor to Rob Pelinka, the team’s president of basketball operations and general manager. Bennett’s record was 364-136 from 2009-24.

“As we refine and build out our NBA draft and scouting processes, we could think of no better basketball mind than Tony Bennett to have as a resource,” Pelinka said in a statement. “Tony’s track record of forming culture, with high-character, high-skill and high-IQ players is revered and respected across all basketball circles. Tony will be an incredible asset to our basketball leadership, to our scouts and to our draft department as a whole. We are truly excited.”

Virginia honored Bennett in a ceremony before Saturday’s 86-83 win over Miami, naming the court at John Paul Jones Arena after him.

Bennett was the AP national coach of the year in 2007 and 2018. He led Virginia to six ACC regular-season championships. He previously coached at Washington State from 2006-09.

“When Rob and I began talking, what stood out to me was the chance to help out such a storied organization,” Bennett said in a statement. “The Lakers carry a tradition that speaks for itself, so to be connected to it and assist Rob and the Lakers in any way I can is exciting.”

Bennett played under his father, Dick Bennett, at Wisconsin-Green Bay before playing four years in the NBA, including three for Charlotte from 1992-95.

Associated Press contributed to this report.

All of the current Lakers realized that playing against the Boston Celtics on national television really was more than just one of 82 games on the schedule.

It was crystallized even more because iconic former Lakers coach Pat Riley sat courtside after a celebration for the unveiling of his statue on the Star Plaza outside Crypto.com Arena. He was the first Lakers coach to beat the hated Celtics for an NBA championship after eight failed attempts.

So, yes, on this Sunday afternoon, this game meant more if only because it was another game in the long rivalry, a game the Lakers lost, 111-89.

Luka Doncic had 25 points for the Lakers but he was just nine for 22 from the field. LeBron James had 20 points but was just nine for 21 from the field.

It was the second time this season the Lakers scored in the 80s, and that also was a loss.

For a team that entered the game shooting a league-best 50% from the field, it was not a good sign for the Lakers’ offense when their shooting slipped to 36.8% in the second quarter. They shot 39.1% for the game and 30% (nine for 30) from three-point range.

“We had some really good looks,” James said. “I think they had a good game plan defensively, forcing us to take some shots … I mean listen, sometimes you got to make shots. And they made timely shots and we didn’t. We didn’t give ourselves a good chance on the offensive end. I think defensively, we held serve as long as we could. But offensively, we didn’t give ourselves a good chance.”

It was obvious the Lakers felt the intensity of the rivalry when Austin Reaves and Marcus Smart received technical fouls in the second quarter and coach JJ Redick got one in the third.

They were unhappy with the officiating that didn’t go their way against an aggressive Celtics defense.

Perhaps, it was posed to Doncic, the Lakers lost some focus on offense because of the complaints that led to the T’s.

“Maybe. …You’re surprised it wasn’t me, huh?” he said. “Then you know it’s bad.”

Doncic laughed.

But what was of real concern for the Lakers was trying to deal with the Celtics and their three-point shooters.

The Celtics (37-19) entered the game tossing up 42.4 threes per game, the third-highest output in the NBA, and making 15.4 of them, also the third-highest.

On cue, the Celtics shot 14 for 36 from three-point range.

The Lakers (34-22) fell behind by 18 points with 4:46 left in the fourth quarter after Jaylen Brown was fouled while scoring. He made the free throw and then followed that with a three-pointer to put the Lakers in a 21-point hole.

Brown finished with 32 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

But the real problem for the Lakers was not being able to slow down Payton Pritchard. He had 30 points off the bench, making 10 of 14 shots and six of nine three-pointers.

His three-pointer gave the Celtics a 22-point lead and forced Redick to call a timeout with 3:22 left. Redick pulled his starters, knowing it was over.

“You talk about the personnel and how good Jaylen Brown has been and how good Payton Pritchard has been,” Redick said. “Really where this team kills you is when they can get you in the blender and take catch-and-shoot threes. They can shoot 51 of them and they’re going to make 20. They’re that good. Trying to limit that is the biggest thing when you play these guys. And you have to be willing to live with contested off-the-dribble jumpers. Pritchard made a lot of them tonight. He played a great game.”

James said he watched some of the Riley ceremony that took place at halftime.

James played for the Miami Heat for four years under the watchful eye of Riley. The Heat went to four NBA Finals and won two championships.

Riley left an indelible impression on James.

“I got out there for a little bit, sat on the bench during halftime before our meeting,” James said. “Listen, he’s one of the all-time greats to ever have been a part of this league. Not only player — coach, executive, front office, everything. Obviously what he did here for the Lakers organization in the ‘80s goes without saying and rightfully so, him having a statue outside his building. Obviously I spent four years with him. I have the utmost respect for him, for his family and everything. So, it’s pretty cool.”