A double-digit win over Denver didn’t do it for you? How about a six-point win over white-hot Houston? Oklahoma City entered Sunday’s showdown with Los Angeles winners of 11 of its last 12. The Thunder had not lost a home game in nearly a month. The Lakers rolled in and beat the Thunder by 27.
Do you believe in LeBron James? James scored 19 points in the 126–99 win Sunday, more than half on turnaround jumpers. It’s been said again and again (and again … and again) that what James is doing at 40 years old is remarkable. Because it is. James added seven assists and three rebounds to his final stat line. He anchored a defense that held Oklahoma City under 100 points for the first time since mid-January. Against a team of 20-somethings, James was the most athletic player on the floor.
“This is a great team,” James said, “to test out and see where you are.”
Do you believe in Luka Doncic? Oklahoma City, which was erased from the postseason by Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks last spring, is now 0–1 against him in a Lakers uniform. The Thunder pride themselves on their collection of perimeter defenders. Lu Dort, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace … It didn’t matter. Doncic dropped 30 on Sunday, on 11-of-20 shooting.
Do you believe in Austin Reaves? Before the game, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault called Reaves the Lakers’ “x-factor.” Lately he’s been more than that. Reaves has scored 30-plus points in four of his last six games. His assist numbers (5.8 per game) are a career-best. He’s shooting 60% from three over the last three games, including 4-of-8 on Sunday.
Do you believe in JJ Redick? It’s time to admit: Redick is an excellent NBA coach. However he landed the Lakers job, Redick has proven to be more than worthy of it. The Lakers are organized, disciplined and efficient. The Lakers are on track to win 50 games for the first time since the 2019–20 season. Despite making a wholesale change that swapped out an elite rim protector (Anthony Davis) for a lesser one (Doncic), the team’s defensive rating since the trade (113.5) is a hair better than what it was before it (113.8).
About that defense. On Sunday, Reaves was asked about the team’s defensive effort. Smiling, he pointed to Dorian Finney-Smith, who was seated at the locker next to him. “You see this man right here,” Reaves said. “This man is a great defender.” He’s right. In recent years, the Lakers have lacked feisty wing defenders. This season, they have waves of them. Finney-Smith, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura, even Jordan Goodwin. James is having his best defensive season in years. They get offensive rebounds, chase loose balls and win 50-50 battles.
“They have got good size in every spot,” Daigneault said. “They are smart, good in their schemes. I think you need to beat them with a little more speed than we [had] today.
Conventional wisdom says the Lakers shouldn’t be this good. The Doncic trade was significant, but even Lakers brass admitted the deal was more about next season than this one. But somehow, some way, the team has come together. L.A. has won 28 of its last 41 games and four of its- last five, with a narrow loss to equally hot Golden State the only blemish.
“We know it’s the final stretch until the postseason,” James said. “We’re just trying to rack up great habits. Sometimes the game goes the way the game goes … but it’s about habits. We’re just trying to build our habits now going into the final stretch of the season.
Indeed, there can be no let up. The Lakers are percentage points ahead of Denver for the West’s third playoff seed. But they are just two games up on Memphis for No. 8. They will face the Thunder in a rematch in Oklahoma City on Tuesday before heading to Dallas for Doncic’s anticipated return on Wednesday.
“You can go from third to eighth in the snap of a finger,” Reaves said. “Hopefully we can continue that momentum.”
And if they can? Home court advantage in the first round will matter. Only Oklahoma City has more home wins (34) than the Lakers (30). A second-round matchup with Houston, which will return to the playoffs for the first time since the James Harden era, could be favorable. Then, perhaps, a conference finals showdown with Oklahoma City. The Thunder will be tough. But the Lakers will have the two most battle-tested stars on the floor.
In the postgame scrum, James repeated: It’s about habits. “They [the Thunder] know who they are, they know what they’re going to be in the postseason,” James said. “We’re still trying to figure it out with our lineups … with what Luka wants to do, [Reaves], myself and to make sure we key on everybody else on the team and make sure we hold each other accountable so we understand that coming down the stretch we have to play some really good basketball.”
It could go the other way. Minnesota or Golden State could mop the floor with them in the first round. But the Lakers have made it interesting. They have microwaved team chemistry and found a defense that works. In close games, they have two of the NBA’s most terrifying closers.
