Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers collapsed over the final 15 minutes of Monday's game against San Antonio. 

On Wednesday, the Lakers looked stagnant and sloppy for the first 24 minutes, giving up 66 points and falling behind by 12 at the break. For a 20-17 team, playing a Heat squad without Jimmy Butler, they simply had to find a way to win. And it wasn't easy, but over the course of the second half, the Lakers increased the pressure defensively, holding Miami to 19 points in the third quarter, and only 23 in the fourth to win (relatively) comfortably, 117-108. 

It was a strange game, with Miami spending as much of it as they could in a zone, and the Lakers struggling to figure out how to penetrate it. The Lakers couldn't get any kind of production from the bench. But while it wasn't pretty and it's hard to feel like the Lakers discovered (re-discovered?) some sort of winning formula, they found a way in a game they had to have. 

There's a lot of work left to build the Lakers back up once again into a team that feels capable of consistently good play. It remains to be seen if they can even get there. But in the meantime, they have to figure out how to win enough games so that if the team does find—and then sustain—the next level, they're using that improvement to solidify a seed up in the top six in the West, not scrambling just to get into the play-in rounds. 

At the least, the first step was rediscovering the defensive intensity that helped the Lakers win six straight a couple weeks back. These Lakers aren't always going to play well, but they can always play hard. Forcing 20 Miami turnovers should have led to more than 23 points the other way, but those points plus the shots Miami wasn't able to take were what swung the game. 

The homestand was interrupted by tragedy, changing the complexion of this stretch of season that was supposed to go LA's way, getting them prepped for the long roadie at the end of the month. That's not how it's going to play out anymore. But if Wednesday was a "show me" game, where the Lakers had to prove they still were willing to work hard for a win after (bleeping) the bed on Monday, they cleared that bar... in the second half, at least. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers manage to grind out a win. 

SEGMENT 2: Balanced scoring, and Rui's best game in a long time. 

SEGMENT 3: Lots of work left to do, but they've got to win in the meantime. 

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The Lakers had six players score in double figures, led by Rui Hachimura’s 23 points, as the Lakers snapped their 3-game losing streak, beating the visiting Miami Heat 117-108. LeBron James and Anthony Davis added 22, and Austin Reeves had 14 points and 14 assists as the Lakers rallied from 12 down at the half to win by 9. The Heat were led in scoring by Tyler Herro’s 34 in the loss. The Lakers will look to continue their winning ways Friday night when they host the New Jersey Nets.

Lakers, LA Lakers, Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Rui, Hachimura Austin Reeves, NBA, Lakers Post cast, JJ Redick, Dalton Knecht, Lakers vs Heat, Los Angeles Lakers vs Miami Heat

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Certain nights throughout a season can be described as "show me" games. One where the context clearly demands a certain level of effort and performance if a team is going to demonstrate the requisite seriousness and focus to consider themselves a legitimate playoff threat, let alone a title contender. 

Tonight's game against the Heat at the Crypt? It's a "show me." 

Miami arrives with a middling record (20-18, 10-11 away from home) and without Jimmy Butler, who continues to serve a team-imposed suspension. So on their home floor, the Lakers ought to win this one. But more importantly, the last 16 minutes of Monday's loss to San Antonio were an embarrassment. Up 10 with four minutes left in the quarter—and up eight with three minutes remaining—the Lakers went on to lose by 24. It's not easy to lose a 16 minute strech by 36 points, but here we are. And this was on a night where the Lakers, at least on the surface, pledged to bring it on behalf of the city. 

That doesn't mean they're going to win, but the capacity to maintain focus should have been there. (And if it had, they win.) 

The wild swings this team makes are just as revealing as anything they do inside games. They've shown flashes of being the type of team that can compete credibly in the playoffs and maybe get through a couple of rounds. They've also made being blown out part of the routine. It happens... a lot. 

Whether the Lakers have enough on the roster to really make a push remains to be seen. At the least, the flaws are there, and they're real. But if they're not going to be the team that overwhelms with talent, they need to be one that does it with precision and heart. 

It's not easy, but it's required. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: Monday's loss is still leaving a bad taste. 

SEGMENT 2: No Dorian Finney-Smith (likely) tonight vs. Indiana. 

SEGMENT 3: What can the Lakers fix on D? 

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The Lakers can't quite decide what they are, or what they're supposed to be. 

On an emotional Monday night at the Crypt—in which the Lakers both honored the first responders and volunteers working tirelessly to gain full control of the wildfires still active around the city and care for those who have been displaced—LA started strong and faded hard. They were blown out over the second half 73-40 (and particularly in the fourth quarter, 37-13), getting sloppy with the ball and costing themselves far too many possessions... though it could be argued the Lakers didn't do much with the opportunities they didn't kick away. 

Final score, 126-102. LA loses its third straight game. 

The consistency simply isn't there. And after a good run, the Lakers suddenly look a lot like the team that had everyone worried that a good record was mostly a mirage. The defense, fueled on Monday by an inept, turnover prone offense, isn't holding at the high level we saw after the NBA Cup layoff. The offense is easily compromised, lacking secondary ballhandling and playmaking. San Antonio made life very hard for LeBron James and Austin Reaves by putting extra pressure on the ball, particularly when only one of them was on the floor. 

Getting Jarred Vanderbilt back, likely at some point next week, will help. But it's not a cure all. JJ Redick is going to need to find other levers to pull, including potentially flipping Dorian Finney-Smith and Rui Hachimura in the starting lineup. 

Good teams sustain good play for a month or two at a time, not just a week or two. The Lakers aren't there yet, and need to find the formula to change that. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers get thumped in the second half. 

SEGMENT 2: What went wrong with the defense? Was it the fault of the offense, actually? 
 

SEGMENT 3: PUSH THE BUTTON, JJ!

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         Victor Wembanyama had 23 points and 8 rebounds, and Chris Paul added 13 points and 10 assists as the San Antonio Spurs snapped their 3-game losing streak in beating the hometown Lakers 126-102. Anthony Davis scored 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the loss, while LeBron James contributed with 18 points and 8 assists. The Lakers will look to get back on the winning side of things Wednesday night when they host the Miami Heat.

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The Lakers will play basketball tonight at the Crypt, hosting the San Antonio Spurs. 

Broadly, it's a sign that officials believe they have a better handle on the still-burning fires in Los Angeles, because they're willing to have emergency personnee available for a game at LA Live (and another at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, with the Clippers hosting a home game of their own). It's been a trying week for everyone around the city, including Lakers players and team personnel. The home JJ Redick and his family have been living in since moving to LA burned down in the Palisades fire. LeBron James, like many residents of Brentwood, spent the weekend facing mandatory or potential evacuation. 

But there's simply no way the NBA would stage games unless they were told in no uncertain terms that the risk of diverting critical public safety resources was low. 

So now that they're back on the floor, what will it look like? The emotional toll in moments like this can be challenging. Obviously the arena will be a place of mixed emotions. People excited to see their team, hoping to have a moment where they're rallying for their city, a brief respite from the realities a few miles away, and more. The team will certainly honor those who have lost so much, and the first responders trying to protect them. There will be even more energy and celebration as Michael Cooper, one of the most beloved members of the Showtime Lakers, will finally have his jersey retired. 

It's a lot to pack into one night. 

But of course, what we see tonight is just the start of weeks, months, and years of recovery. One thing that is likely safe to say: While the Lakers don't always handle their basketball decisions, they almost always nail the moment in times like these. Whatever the team chooses to do will likely hit the right notes. And LeBron James, who was excellent helping lead the team and the community when the Lakers resumed play following the death of Kobe Bryant, will likely meet the moment as well. 

It's just one game, but it's likely a welcome sight for a lot of Angelenos. 

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As expected, Thursday's game between the Hornets and Lakers at Crypto.com Arena was postponed due to the wildfires raging throughout the Los Angeles area. Attempting to hold a basketball contest amidst all this chaos and tragedy would have been both tone-deaf and logistically irresponsible, particularly at a time when JJ Redick is dealing with the loss of his Pacific Palisades home. As such, that event has been tabled, and there's a good possibility that Saturday and Monday's upcoming games vs. the Spurs will require relocation to play on time. And whatever solution is landed upon by the Lakers and the league is obviously a first-world problem compared to the plight of so many Angelenos.

In the meantime, this show continues its attempt at a welcome distraction for many of its listeners. The actual basketball conversation centered around the second return of fan voting for the All-Star Game, which currently has LeBron James paced as a starter for the 21st consecutive season, although not by enough for it to be a lock. It also has Anthony Davis paced to make the team, although also not by enough for it to be a lock. This speaks far more to the overwhelming competition in the West than anything LeBron or AD are lacking as players this season. It's a brutal conference, and the All-Star names in the mix reinforce this.

Hosts: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

Segment 1: It's a difficult time for sports - and life - in Los Angeles right now.

Segment 2: Will LeBron's All-Star starting streak remain intact? And is AD gonna make the team?

Segment 3: More on the All-Star voting.

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This is a difficult time in Los Angeles, with fire impacting massive portions of the city, unfathomable loss already and great uncertainty still ahead. 

How it influences the NBA calendar isn't a priority concern, but that said at least as of Wednesday night, there has been no announcement about whether the Lakers and Charlotte will actually be playing tonight at the Crypt. (It seems like a bad idea to do anything that puts people in their cars and has the potential to require the attention of first responders, especially since it's abundantly clear that this crisis is not going to end today, but we'll see what the league chooses to do.)  

Our thoughts are everyone in the community, especially those directly affected, including our colleague Darian Vaziri, host of Locked On Clippers, whose family home was lost in the fire. 

In this episode, we talk about the human impact of the fires, including on the Lakers. JJ Redick's family, for example, was evacuated from the Pacific Palisades neighborhood on Tuesday. From there, it's a conversation about Jared Vanderbilt, who finally, truly, this-time-for-real seems near a return from his multiple foot surgeries. The Lakers will have more to say in a week or so, but Vando is back on the floor doing full court work, with contact. 

That's good news for the team, especially as we get closer to the trade deadline, which is a month away now. To see Vanderbilt back in the lineup, get a feel for what he's capable of doing, how he fits and so on, gives Rob Pelinka more data points as he tries to allocate the team's limited trade capital as effectively as possible. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The fires in LA are impacting everything and everyone, including the Lakers and the NBA.

SEGMENT 2: Seriously, this time it seems like Jarred Vanderbilt is set to return soon. 

SEGMENT 3: Getting Vando back is a big deal. 

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There have been a few good candidates for "Worst" among the (now) 16 losses suffered by the Lakers over the course of this season. 

But Tuesday, the Lakers may have set a new bar. They went into Dallas facing a Mavs team without Luka Doncic or Kyrie Irving, and playing on the second night of a back-to-back in which they had to travel back to from Memphis to Dallas after losing to the Grizzlies Monday night. Starting center Derek Lively was in foul trouble for much of the game, which is problematic for Dallas since their backup, Daniel Gafford, is on the shelf as well. 

LA, meanwhile, had a day of rest to think about a disappointing loss in Houston Sunday evening, and even got some reinforcements in the form of Gabe Vincent, who returned to the lineup after missing games with an oblique injury. And by beating Dallas, the Lakers could put a little space between themselves and a key competitor in the Western Conference.

And yet, the Lakers lost, 118-97. 

When people question how good the Lakers are, and whether or not Rob Pelinka ought to be investing what's left of the team's prime assets in this season, it's games like this that give them pause. Good teams do not lose this game. They may not play great, they might hit some rocky points, but in the end, they win the game. (Really good teams knock Dallas out early, and never let them get confident, but let's walk before we run.) So if you're Pelinka, how do you react to nights like this? Can you believe that the Lakers are capable of enough consistency to push through the late stretch of the season, then into multiple rounds of playoff basketball, with enough high-end consistency to make an "all in" move seem like a reasonable gamble? 

There is an excellent chance that at the end of the year, the Lakers will see the standings and point to this game as a reason something more favorable didn't happen. It's possible, too, that it could be a reason the team doesn't go big at the deadline. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: Horrible, horrible loss. 

SEGMENT 2: Nobody stepped up to get the job done, and the defense was really bad. 

SEGMENT 3: It starts with the stars - 39 points from LeBron and AD? That's not enough. 

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Ultimate GM
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Quentin Grimes scored 23 off the bench and former Laker Spencer Dinwiddie added 22 as the Dallas Mavericks, playing without Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, beat the Los Angeles Lakers 118-97. Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while LeBron James had 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists in the loss. The Lakers will look to get on the winning side of things Thursday night when they host the Hornets.

Lakers, LA Lakers, Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Rui, Hachimura Austin Reeves, NBA, Lakers Post cast, JJ Redick, Dalton Knecht, Lakers vs Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers vs Dallas Mavericks

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