Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

Before Monday's game in Houston, JJ Redick said he thought it would be a rock fight, and he wasn't wrong. 

But the Lakers once again used strong defense and a great late-game run to beat the Rockets, 100-92. Aside from a neat and efficient 36 point effort from Luka Dončić (14-27 shooting), the Lakers struggled to find points. LeBron James finished with 18 points (7-13 shooting) and Austin Reaves had 15... but needed 18 attempts to get there. (He missed all eight three pointers he tried.) 

But there were still a bunch of different ways guys contributed, from an excellent final five minutes from Deandre Ayton to five free throws from Jake LaRavia, and a critical 3-pointer from Marcus Smart down the stretch. And everyone kicked in defensively, as the Lakers put a lot of pressure on Kevin Durant to get the ball from his hands. 

With the win, the Lakers gain sole possession of third place in the West, and have a chance to clinch the tiebreaker over the Rockets in Wednesday's season series rubber match.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: A huge, Luka 'n' D driven win over Houston.

SEGMENT 2: Finding new ways to get it done. 

SEGMENT 3: Best defensive showing of the year? 

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The Lakers have something going, having won eight of nine, including a nice stack of quality wins against good opponents, capped by Saturday's buzzer beating OT victory over the Nuggets. 

Now the tests continue, starting with the first of two games in Houston against the Rockets. Win both, and the Lakers can secure yet another tiebreaker against a quality conference rival. But even without a sweep, the Lakers can make a strong statement with two solid efforts. So can Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves continue their run of outstanding play against some high end defenders? Can the Lakers figure out how to defend the amount of length Houston brings to the table? 

What should people be looking for in the first of the two games? We break it down. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

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The Lakers have won eight of nine, and the ninth was a loss in Denver to the Nuggets that, even with a terrible first three minutes, was there for the taking in the final possessions of the game. 

Slowly and consistently, they've started chipping away at the most common criticisms. They only beat bad teams, not good ones. The defense can't perform at a high level. The Big Three can't win minutes on the floor together. It's not quite safe to say the Lakers have solved all of those problems, but signs are definitely positive. At some point, it's reasonable to believe they should be seen to be as good, and with as good a chance of doing damage in the postseason, as any of the teams in the Western Conference's 2nd tier (i.e. not OKC or San Antonio). 

Of course, if the Lakers really want to make believers out of people (and, if we're being frank, significantly boost their own confidence), strong performances against the Rockets this week (Monday and Wednesday, both in Houston) will go a long way. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 2: What has changed about how people evaluate the team. 

SEGMENT 3: What's next? 

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Well that was nuts. 

The Lakers opened what would eventually be a 127-125 OT win over Denver with 15 minutes of their best basketball this year. Red hot shooting! Attentive, aggressive defense! 

But things slowed down getting to half, and in the third quarter the large lead the Lakers had completely evaporated. In the fourth, they fell behind by as much as seven... and then came back! And the bucket pushing them into OT came off an intentionally missed free throw by Austin Reaves, who got his own rebound and scored. Nobody has ever seen that work. 

Luka Doncic finished with 30/11/13, Reaves had 32/7/6, LeBron James 17/6/5, Marcus Smart (who was incredible defensively) finished with 21, including five 3-pointers. 

As a result the Lakers win the tiebreaker over Denver, which could be crucial before the end of the year. 

Huge win for LA. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

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The Lakers have a critical game coming on Sunday against the Nuggets, the only team to beat them over the last seven games. 

It's one that could go a long way to determining seeding in the Western Conference, and a win would give the Lakers a big tiebreaker advantage over Denver to go along with the tiebreaker they've already earned over Minnesota. 

The Nuggets will be playing a stronger hand, with Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon and Spencer Jones all expected to play after missing last week's game. The Lakers, on the other hand, will almost surely be missing Maxi Kleber and Jaxson Hayes, with Marcus Smart a major question mark. That'll put a lot of pressure not only on the Big Three, but players like Deandre Ayton to continue his recent run of good play. 

So what to watch for? We break it down, here. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

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The Lakers have now won 7 of 8, and occupy the third seed in the Western Conference after beating Chicago at Crypto.com Arena, final score 142-130. 

This was a night where the Lakers locked down periodically on defense -- those were the moments where they put some space between themselves and Chicago -- but were rock stars on the other end, led by Luka Dončić. LA's MVP candidate was cooking all night, finishing with a smooth 51 points on 17-31 shooting, including 9-14 from downtown. Austin Reaves added 30 points of his own. Deandre Ayton? How about 23/10. Rui Hachimura, starting for the injured Marcus Smart had 15. LeBron James, questionable heading into the game, played and finished with 18 points, with seven boards and seven dimes. 

And it's a good thing the starters were so hot, because the bench gave the Lakers five points. Five. 

No matter. The Lakers keep things rolling and get the win they needed. On to Denver Saturday. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

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The Lakers have received a lift in the last couple of games through the activity and production of Deandre Ayton. The mercurial center has come out with significantly more energy, and has generally played better since namedropping Clint Capela in a fairly disparaging way. 

But the Lakers need him to keep it up, no question. They're a different team when Ayton produces (noted by the record when he logs 15/10 on any given night). But with a fully healthy team, the lakers aren't likely to be able to find Ayton enough shots to put up 15-20 every night, and meanwhile his minutes likely settle between 20-25 minutes rather than 25-30. 

But the motor? That can run all the time. 

And for the Lakers, the possibility of having a higher caliber starting center than last season (Ayton vs. Jaxson Hayes) combined with a better backup center (Today Hayes vs. Last Year Hayes) and a healthy Maxi Kleber (who has been deployed effectively at different times this year) means the center position is in line for a significant upgrade compared to last year. 

That gives JJ Redick far more options, allows the Lakers to match up better, and then do things like go small -- still a very effective lineup -- when they want to, rather than because they have to.

That's a big deal, potentially. So keep an eye on the bigs!

Meanwhile, Austin Reaves had some very revealing, and potentially encouraging, comments about accountability following Tuesday's win. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

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The Lakers are rolling, and feeling pretty good about themselves. 

All the more reason to pay attention on Thursday against Chicago to what is undoubtedly a trap game. The Lakers have huge games just around the corner, with Houston, Denver, Orlando and more, so it'll be easy to overlook a Bulls team that has a couple decent players but overall is pretty darn lousy. 

That the Lakers will likely be without LeBron James and Marcus Smart only drives home the need to pay attention. Taking care of business is an important step in continuing the upward trajectory the team currently enjoys. 

From there, it's all about Bam Adebayo and his 83-point game on Tuesday against Washington. Lakers fans, like many NBA observers, didn't receive it well. Of course for Lakers fans, the significance of Kobe's 81-point game, which is now third in single game scoring, has meaning on multiple levels. 

More points, though, doesn't necessarily mean more impressive, and to say the least, what each of these games represents for the players themselves is different. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers have a trap game coming Thursday night. 

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The Lakers have an enigma at center, everyone knows that. On Tuesday, Deandre Ayton was a key piece of the team's success in a critical win over Minnesota. 

It's fair to say, though, that those results haven't been the standard since about the first five weeks of the year. 

It's also fair to say that there are games -- Sunday against the Knicks being a great example -- where Ayton plays well and the numbers don't jump off the page... and people still complain. Likely many who didn't watch the game. What matters for the Lakers, though, is a lot of the eye test stuff. How engaged is he? How quickly is he moving defensively? Is he battling on the boards? Setting hard screens? 

That stuff is often going to matter more than the number of points he scores, because on a team with Luka, Reaves and LeBron, there are only so many shots to be had. 

But getting Ayton on track consistently is a big thing for the Lakers if they want to move forward. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

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The Lakers had a major confidence building win over the Knicks Sunday at Crypto.com, and Tuesday they hoped to send a message with another resounding win. 

Mission accomplished. 

In a game that started as a rock fight where neither team could seem to buy a bucket, the Lakers would find their stride and put some space between them and the Wolves, using a dominant third quarter to pull away and build a lead they'd never come close to giving up. Final score, 120-106. Luka Dončić finishes with 31/11/11, with a pair of steals and a block. Austin Reaves was excellent as well, nearly finishing with a triple double of his own - 31/7/8, with only one turnover. 

But those two had help. Deandre Ayton was excellent, with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Luke Kennard had 10 points, and Jake LaRavia was an inspiration, getting beat up left and right but still figuring out ways to contribute. 

So in the end, the Lakers pick up a big win that leaves them sitting in fourth in a crowded Western Conference, winners of six of their last seven games and a chance to get another on Thursday against an extremely mid Bulls team. 

All of a sudden the vibes have changed. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers get a big win vs. Minnesota. 

SEGMENT 2: Luka and Reaves thrive. 

SEGMENT 3: Finding a real stride defensively? 

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