midpoint Archives - Occasional Digest

Welcome back to The Times’ Lakers newsletter, where we’re officially at the halfway point of the season.

The Lakers are 25-16 and barely clear of play-in territory at sixth in the West. They’ve lost five of seven games and are slogging through the midseason dog days. Licking the wounds from a three-game losing streak last week, coach JJ Redick had a simple message for the team as it prepared for a game against Atlanta.

“His statement was pretty much play team basketball, play together and have fun with it,” Jake LaRavia said.

The Lakers responded with a convincing win.

As we head into the second half of the season, let’s try to keep the fun going.

All fun and games

Lakers players huddle before a game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Crypto.com Arena on Jan. 9.

Phil Jackson once told Redick that he could tell the identity of his team by Thanksgiving every season. When Redick shared this memory on Dec. 30, the current Lakers coach was still struggling to find the identity of his team. At the midway point, Redick is only outlining a hope.

“When we’re at our best, we have high effort,” Redick said. “We have high connectivity and that’s reflected on both sides of the ball. And there’s a joy that we play with where we root for each other’s success.”

Redick’s description of his team at its best echoes what he often says about Luka Doncic. When “Luka Magic” is at his most enchanting, the 26-year-old is joyfully galloping up the court, joking with teammates and trash-talking fans. People talk about the way a coach’s personality spreads to the team. It’s evident that a superstar’s personality should do the same.

Doncic has established himself as the Lakers’ leader. Even LeBron James called him “our … franchise.” The first half of this season has been as much a test of Doncic’s leadership as it has been about his production.

“The stuff that we coach him on, whether that’s his interactions with referees, defensive engagement, all of that stuff, that’s all forms of leadership,” Redick said. “I can tell you, he’s so much improved from where he was last year.”

Lakers star Luka Doncic drives toward the basket as teammate Jarred Vanderbilt sets a screen.

Doncic was named an NBA All-Star for the sixth time Monday and earned the most votes from fans. He leads the league in scoring. But the best way he sets the tone for the Lakers is through his passing.

When the Lakers have 24 or more assists, they are 21-4. They are 4-12 with 23 or fewer. One of the clearest signs of how much fun the Lakers are having is how well the ball is moving.

“I know there were times in my career that whether I was playing good, whether we were winning, whether we were losing, playing poorly, it didn’t matter. When you don’t feel connected, it’s not as fun,” Redick said. “… We’ve done it throughout the season, just we got to do it more consistently.”

Consistency has been a struggle for the Lakers. They have used 19 different starting lineups. They’re eighth in offensive rating and 26th in defensive rating. Their standing in the West hinges on late-game brilliance and a 13-1 record in clutch games. But of the team’s 16 losses, only one has been by single digits and they have a negative point differential on the season.

As the trade deadline approaches on Feb. 5, the Lakers might shop for a defensive wing who could extract potential from an otherwise stagnant roster. But that archetype is something every contending team is looking for. It doesn’t grow on trees in this league.

But this time last season, the Lakers pulled off the unthinkable by adding Doncic. We never know what the basketball gods have in store.

Timme Time

Lakers forward Drew Timme warms up before facing the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 17.

Doncic gave his teammate a high five as they exchanged seats at the postgame news conference Sunday night. Then the star guard’s eyes glanced at Drew Timme’s T-shirt.

Timme’s yellow shirt had a drawing of a Tyrannosaurus Rex holding a minigun with the words “Sexual Tyrannosaurus” scrawled across the top.

The confused side-eye from Doncic was priceless.

Since his starring days at Gonzaga, Timme has earned bewildered double takes. He rocked a silly-looking handlebar mustache and headband. He went to the Final Four twice. He graduated as Gonzaga’s all-time leading scorer.

Yet the consensus first-team All-American still went undrafted in 2023. Scouts often looked at his age — 23 when training camp began — and thought his ceiling wasn’t very high. He wasn’t overly athletic. He wasn’t a very strong rebounder.

The Lakers forward wants to remind everyone what he can do.

“In college and since I’ve left, it’s ‘You can’t do this, you can’t do that. You’re not good enough for this and that,’” Timme said. “All these things that I can’t do. And I see it and it is fuel, and at the end of the day, I’m a good player. I believe in myself and my abilities, and I believe that I can impact the game at any level, anywhere.”

Lakers forward Drew Timme drives to the basket in front of Portland Trail Blazers center Duop Reath on Jan. 17.

Timme has worked with four G League teams, going from the Wisconsin Herd — the G League affiliate for the Milwaukee Bucks — to the Stockton Kings to the Long Island Nets before making his NBA debut last season with the Brooklyn Nets.

With the South Bay Lakers, Timme was challenged to improve his playmaking and decision making on the perimeter. The 6-foot-10 forward averaged 25.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and four assists in his first G League games this season before signing on a two-way deal with the Lakers in November.

His moments have been fleeting, but Timme was ready when the Lakers were without top two centers Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes against Portland on Saturday. He scored a career-high 21 points with four assists and two steals off the bench. He stayed in the rotation against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday and scored three points with three rebounds and two assists while helping execute an effective zone defense in the win.

Playing on a two-way contract, Timme understands it’s unlikely he’ll become a regular contributor. But his ability to step up at a moment’s notice signals the overall strength of the Lakers organization.

“Dangerous,” Ayton said. “It’s the next-man mentality. We’ve been showing glimpses of it at the start of the season when we didn’t have everybody and guys like Nick Smith having big games; Jake [LaRavia] stepped up to where he’s a starter now and it’s just been like that throughout the season where guys are working on their game and their conditioning and they’re ready to play. That’s just coach’s [Redick’s] leadership, to be honest.”

On tap

Tuesday at Nuggets (29-14), 7 p.m.

The Nuggets have been racked by injuries, none bigger than star center Nikola Jokic, who sustained a knee injury three weeks ago. They’re also been without starters Christian Braun, Aaron Gordon and Cameron Johnson at points this season, and backup center Jonas Valanciunas is still out with a calf injury. But they’re tied for second in the West and have won seven of 11 since Jokic’s injury.

Thursday at Clippers (19-23), 7 p.m.

The Lakers may have inadvertently turned the Clippers’ season around. Starting with the blowout win over their crosstown rival on Dec. 20, the Clippers have won 12 of 14 games to work back into the play-in conversation. Kawhi Leonard sustained a knee contusion Jan. 17 and is day-to-day.

Saturday at Mavericks (18-26), 5:30 p.m.

Luka Doncic’s annual homecoming to Dallas almost always will be another painful reminder to Mavericks fans of the trade that rocked the league. Anthony Davis (hand) will be sidelined (again) and former general manager Nico Harrison is out of a job while Doncic returns as the NBA’s leading scorer.

Monday at Bulls (20-22), 5 p.m.

The Bulls were one of the league’s biggest surprises at the start of the season with six wins in their first seven games, but have now slipped to ninth in the East. Josh Giddey leads the team with 19.2 points and nine assists, and will soon return from a hamstring injury he suffered in late December.

Status report

Austin Reaves: left calf strain

Four weeks after leaving the Christmas Day game early, Reaves could be reevaluated this week. If he is able to progress back to the court, he still likely will work back slowly, especially as this injury was initially thought to be “mild” when it first popped up in mid-December.

Adou Thiero: right MCL sprain

Thiero is about halfway through the four-week time table for his injury, which was announced on Dec. 31.

Favorite thing I ate this week

It was a rare all-home week for me as my favorite colleague Brad Turner took both of the Lakers’ trips to Sacramento and Portland, which left me to fend for myself in my kitchen. I made salmon with Thai coconut curry risotto. Stirring risotto for 40 minutes is a special kind of meditation that was much-needed at this midpoint of the season. And I had a quinoa and cabbage salad with peanut dressing on the side. Don’t worry, Mom, I am getting my veggies in.

* The actual favorite thing I ate this week was the six-roll set at Kazunori in Marina del Rey, but unfortunately I didn’t take a picture of that delicious meal. I usually like the blue crab roll the most, but the yellowtail was hitting that day. So much so that I ordered an extra one as an exclamation point.