Welcome back to this week’s Lakers newsletter, where we are remembering that all good things must come to an end.
The Lakers’ longest winning streak since the 2019-20 season ended in Detroit on Monday much in the same fashion that it was built. The Lakers announced themselves as a legitimate playoff threat by piling up thrilling, clutch time wins. Another team’s clutch time win snapped the Lakers’ nine-game streak. Win or lose, the Lakers are finding new lessons in every one of the close games.
Bend but don’t break
Luke Kennard, second from right, celebrates after his winning basket.
(Phelan M. Ebenhack / Associated Press)
The missed shots. The missed calls. Every missed opportunity against the Orlando Magic could have been a moment for the Lakers to “let go of the rope,” Austin Reaves said.
But why didn’t they?
“I think it’s just …” Reaves said, pausing to find the right word after the Lakers rallied from down five points with 50 seconds left to win by one.
“Belief.”
We thought the Lakers’ early season clutch success might have been a mirage against bad teams. But through the most difficult stretch of the season — nine of 11 games against teams with winning records including seven against teams .600 or better — the late-game execution has remained largely on point.
The Lakers (46-26) still have a league-leading 22-7 record in games within five points in the last five minutes. The Lakers are 6-2 in clutch games in March. Before the loss to Detroit, their 82-point clutch time defensive rating this month is an astronomical improvement from their overall 115.7 points allowed per 100 possessions.
They have played the fewest number of clutch minutes this season, in part because they kept getting blown out earlier this season. Their first 12 losses were all by 10 or more points. Those losses tipped the team’s point differential into the red despite their overwhelming winning record. They were signs that the Lakers bent and immediately broke.
Just as much as the clutch wins, coach JJ Redick looks at recent close losses — the last four came by a combined 14 points against Orlando, Phoenix, Denver and Detroit — as signs of progress.
“Our resolve and resilience — you need to be connected to do that as a team, not just individually,” Redick said. “I think where we were earlier in the year, all of us, probably the coaching staff included, was like, ‘When things go bad, you revert back to your means of self preservation, whatever that may look like for each individual.’ … We’re bending multiple times in a game, and we’re staying the course and trusting each other.”
The Lakers have two of the best individual stars to trust in key situations.
Luka Doncic put on a clutch clinic in Houston: Within five consecutive offensive possessions, Doncic hit a pirouetting step-back three, split a double team with a behind-the-back dribble to throw a no-look lob to Rui Hachimura, spun through another trap for a second alley-oop to LeBron James and nailed the dagger three. The dazzling display elicited roars from his teammates.
Some of James’ recent clutch highlights haven’t been as loud but are just as significant: His Superman dive to save a loose ball against Denver, the forced turnover that gave the Lakers the last possession against the Magic and the hard cut to the basket that drew two defenders to leave Luke Kennard wide open for the game-winning shot. The Lakers never doubted.
“We got Hall of Fame players,” Reaves said, “guys with a lot of talent that compete at the highest level, and when you got that, no game’s ever over.”
LeBron James rewrites another narrative
LeBron James looks for a pass during a game against Sacramento earlier this month.
(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)
After 23 years of hearing every compliment and every criticism imaginable, James is still smiling through it all. Because through chatter that the Lakers are better without their 22-time All-Star who is making $52.6 million this season, James offered this interview equivalent of a one-handed dunk:
“It sells papers a lot easier and clippings and podcasts if you say ‘LeBron, that their team is better off without him,’ ” James said after he had a triple-double in the Lakers’ win over the Miami Heat during his NBA-record 1,612th regular-season game. “A lot of people will try to, like, view it, so I get it. But they’re absolutely wrong.”
James then scrunched his face into a sarcastic, close-eyed smile.
The Lakers started their winning streak without James, but they couldn’t have continued it if he hadn’t returned in this fashion.
Since missing three games with elbow and hip injuries, James has starred in his new role as possibly most dangerous third option ever. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer’s usage rate dropped from 28.2% in his first 44 games of the season to 21.3% across the six games before Detroit. Before this season, his usage rate has never been lower than 27.6% for an entire year.
But Redick said the team knows it’s at its best when James has the third-highest usage rate. More important, James is playing like he knows that too.
James was held scoreless in the first half against Detroit for just the third time in his career. Redick praised James for his “selfless” play against the Pistons. He finished a rebound short of a triple-double: 12 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.
“It’s the role that I’m playing for the ball club,” James said. “In order for us to win ball games, it’s the role that I’m playing.”
James is taking three fewer shots a game in the last seven games compared to his season average and averaging a quiet 18 points and 6.1 assists per game. But he has been exceptionally efficient: 58% shooting from the field and he still leads the league with 5.7 fastbreak points per game. Reaves said he sometimes forgets that he’s throwing lobs to a 41-year-old.
“I’m going, I’m going to kill you one day on accident just throwing the ball like I forget that you’re 41,” Reaves said he told James. “I’m still throwing it to 35-[year-old] LeBron.”
On tap
Wednesday at Pacers (16-56), 4 p.m. PDT
The Lakers’ six-game trip ends in Indianapolis with the Pacers, who just snapped the NBA’s longest losing streak Monday. They had lost 16 consecutive games before knocking off the Magic, but still have the worst record in the league. Ivica Zubac is out for the rest of the season after the former Clippers big man fractured his rib.
Friday vs. Nets (17-55), 7:30 p.m. PDT
Michael Porter Jr. is averaging a career-best 24.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and three assists. That’s basically all there is to know about the Nets.
Monday at Wizards (16-55), 7 p.m. PDT
The Wizards’ 16-game losing streak is now the longest in the NBA after the Pacers’ recent win. Anthony Davis was traded to the Wizards from Dallas in February but remains sidelined because of a finger injury. Fellow midseason acquisition Trae Young (quad) is also expected to miss the game.
Status report
Rui Hachimura (right calf soreness)
Hachimura is day-to-day after he got hit in the calf against Miami. The injury bothered Hachimura enough that he went back to the locker room late against Orlando. He got imaging and “it was clean,” Redick said.
Marcus Smart (right ankle soreness)
Smart injured his ankle against Orlando when forward Goga Bitadze fell on the Lakers guard. Smart also has some lingering right hip soreness from another fall during that game, but is day-to-day, Redick said.
Maxi Kleber (lumbar back strain)
Kleber joined the team on the trip in Detroit after missing seven games. During his rehab process, Kleber participated in a practice with the South Bay Lakers last week.
Favorite thing I ate this week
The gumbo at Fixins in downtown Detroit.
(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)
With the weather difference from Orlando to Detroit, I landed in the Midwest in desperate need of comfort food. I fed my soul at Fixins in downtown Detroit, filling up on their gumbo. The hearty stew had chicken and sausage (with an option to add shrimp) and was served over rice with a cornbread muffin. On a chilly Midwest day, it healed me. There’s a Fixins location in L.A. too, so expect to find me there the next time I need my Southern food fix.
In case you missed it
Lakers fade in final seconds against Pistons as nine-game win streak ends
Luka Doncic avoids suspension after NBA rescinds his 16th technical foul
Luka Doncic says vulgar comment from Orlando player led to his 16th technical
Luke Kennard’s last-second three-pointer lifts Lakers to ninth consecutive win
Luka Doncic’s 60-point game thrusts Lakers star into middle of MVP debate
Plaschke: ‘Yeaaaaaah!’ A child’s cheer inspires surging Lakers
Luka Doncic scores 60 and LeBron ties NBA games record in Lakers’ eighth straight win
Luka Doncic (40 points) and LeBron James (30) lead Lakers to win over Rockets
Until next time…
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