Lakerholics

The Lakers sans Doncic and Reaves recorded their 3rd straight win vs. the Rockets sans Durant Saturday night in a 107–98 Game 1 victory where their undermanned offense sizzled and their underrated defense dominated.

Give GM Rob Pelinka and coach JJ Redick their flowers because this Lakers team continues to prove they’re grossly underrated and underappreciated. Every single player on this roster has bought in 100% on Redick’s vision. We’re seeing a Los Angeles Lakers team with championship culture that’s in championship condition, has developed championship habits, and wins on the court because of championship communication and chemistry.

All season long, Redick has had the Lakers winning despite their Big Three of Doncic, Reaves, and James missing more than 70 combined games and finishing with a 53–29 record and the #4 seed in the Western Conference.
Embracing their ‘Next Man Up’ mentality and ‘Playing harder’ cheat code, the Lakers peaked over the last 24 games, going 19–5 along with the 11th best team offense, 9th best team defense, and 8th best team net rating.

Offensively, the Lakers adapted to missing Doncic and Reaves and their 56 points, 12 rebounds, and 15 assists per game lost. Their answer as a team was to dish out 29 assists and shoot 61% from the field and 53% from three.
Defensively, the Lakers took full advantage of Durant’s absence and held the Rockets’ offense to just 19 and 18 points in the 2nd and 3rd quarters and their overall shooting to a dreadful 38% from the field and 33% from deep.

By stealing Game 1, the undermanned Los Angeles Lakers have completely turned the tables on the favored Houston Rockets, who now realize they may be in for a dog fight even if they get Kevin Durant back for Game 2.

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Lakers’ Offense Dominates Rocket’s Defense

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While everyone expected the Lakers to struggle mightily without their two top scorers and playmakers Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Lakers surprised the basketball world with a juggernaut offensive performance.

Without Luka and Austin, LeBron simply took control of the game from the opening tip, powering the Lakers to an early lead by dishing out 8 assists in the first quarter and 10 in a first half close only because of LA turnovers.
Led by James’ playmaking, Ayton’s scoring at center, and Kennard’s lethal 3-point shooting, the Lakers built a winning 10-point lead in the 3rd quarter and would have had a better offensive rating than 113.8 if not for turnovers.

Kennard led the Lakers with 27 points, followed by James and Ayton with 19 points, Smart with 15 points, and Hachimura with 14 points. Other than Bronny’s 5 minutes, Redick went with a tight 8-man rotation for the game.
The Lakers entered Game 1 believing they needed to limit turnovers to win. Ironically, they ran their offense so efficiently, shooting 61% from the field and 53% from three, that their 20 turnovers ultimately did not matter.

Other than the 20 turnovers, which Redick will need to adddress for Game 2, the Lakers played a near-perfect game on offense despite missing their two best scorers and playmakers in Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
The skeptics will want more before giving the Lakers their flowers but LA’s smooth overnight transition from a predictable Luka Doncic heliocentric juggernaut to a LeBron James equal opportunity powered juggernaut.

The championship culture Redick has built allowed the Lakers sans Doncic and Reaves to beat the Rockets sans Durant in Game 1 of the First Round of the NBA Playoffs. To win Game 2, the Lakers will need to reduce turnovers.

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Lakers’ Defense Shuts Down Rocket’s Offense

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The Los Angeles Lakers’ elite defense quickly adjusted to Kevin Durant not playing and summarily shut down the Houston Rockets’ offense, holding them to just 98 points total and 38% from the field and 33% from three.

With Durant out, the Lakers had to quickly shift their defensive strategy from doubling superstar Kevin Durant to defending an equal opportunity lineup the Rockets were likely to play featuring center Alperen Sengun.
The Lakers’ physical interior and perimeter defense shut Houston down, limiting Sengun to 19 points on 19 shots, Sheppard to 17 points on 20 shots, Smith Jr. to 16 points on 14 shots, and Thompson 17 points on the 18 shots.

The Lakers posted an elite 104.3 defensive rating for Game 1 with 5 of the team’s 8 rotation players boasting individual defensive ratings under 105.0. LA’s all-out defensive effort last night was probably their best of the year. The Lakers’ defense was fierce and physical. James led the way with 2 steals and 1 block, Hachimura had 3 steals and 2 blocks, LaRavia had 1 steal and 1 block, Smart had 2 blocks, and Ayton and Hayes each had 1 block,

Like their offense approached Game 1 wrongly thinking they had to limit turnovers to win, the Lakers’ defense went into yesterday’s game thinking they must stop the Rockets’ league leading offensive rebounding to win.
Fortunately, the Lakers’ defense was so elite they were able to withstand the Rockets’ 21 offensive rebounds just like their offense was a juggernaut that they could win despite turning the ball over 20 times for 24 points.

The Lakers’ maligned and disrespected defense had their best performance of the year in their most important game of the year. The Game 1 win guarantees LA will play a Game 5, which is when Doncic might return.

Even without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Lakers still possess the advantages that powered their dominating March back-to-back sweep of the Rockets — better defense, more made threes, more made free throws.

While the Lakers must limit turnovers and control defensive backboards, the formula to beat the Rockets is simply do what they did back in March when they swept back-to-back road games, winning 100–92 & 124–116. During that back-to-back 2-game sweep, the Lakers dominated the Rockets at both ends of the court. They posted a solid offensive rating of 118.5 and elite defensive rating of 111.2 for a dominant net rating of +7.3 points.

Defensively, the Lakers could even be better without Doncic and Reaves, who were never elite defensive players. The Lakers’ team defense should be slightly better with Vanderbilt and Kennard replacing Doncic and Reaves.
Offensively is where the LA will miss Doncic and Reaves, whose volume 3-point shooting and ability to draw fouls and free throws sets an impossibly high bar for James, Ayton, Smart, Kennard, and Hachimura to exceed.

Unfortunately, the pundits and oddsmakers have totally underestimated the Lakers. They’ve forgotten how good LeBron James is when in playoff mode and how ‘playing hard’ has become the Lakers’ secret ‘cheat code.’
While he’s unlikely at 41-years old to lead the Lakers to a championship without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, LeBron James does still have enough left in the tank to lead LA to upset Houston in the first round.

Let’s review the three major tactical advantages the Lakers must maintain without Doncic and Reaves to defeat the Rockets and extend the playoffs to second round — better defense, more threes, and more free throws.

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1. Better Defense

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Last month, the Lakers’ dramatically improved defense shut down Kevin Durant and Houston’s point-guard-less offense in back-to-back road wins. LA’s defense does not need Luka Doncic or Austin Reaves to do that again.

The Rockets’ greatest vulnerabilities are their lack of an elite playmaker and questionable half-court decision-making on offense. In the teams’ games last month, the Lakers’ relentless trapping of KD won both games.
The 100–92 victory was a defensive war where LA forced Houston into 24 turnovers and held KD to just 2 points in the 2nd half. The 124–116 win was more of a shootout where the Lakers ended up blocking 8 Rockets shots.

Other than depth, Vanderbilt and Kennard replacing Doncic and Reaves shouldn’t hurt LA’s defense. While Doncic, Reaves, and Kennard are not great defenders, Vanderbilt is an elite individual point-of-attack defender.
For the back-to-back games in March, the Lakers posted an elite defensive rating of 111.2 compared to the Rocket’s subpar defensive rating of 118.5. The Lakers net rating for the two wins was the difference: +7.3 points.

The Lakers generated a 112.4 defensive rating over their last 24 games, which was the 9th best in the league for that period. During the 2-game March stretch vs. Rockets, LA posted a similar 111.2 defensive rating.
The Lakers will definitely need to both minimize their turnovers to prevent fast break points by the Rockets’ offense and also push the ball in transition to counter an overly aggressive offensive rebounding attack by Houston.

While missing Luka and Austin will hurt the Lakers’ defensive depth, defense is the one advantage the Lakers have over the Rocket that will not be seriously affected by missing Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

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2. More Made Threes

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In March, the Lakers back-to-back sweep was powered by outshooting the Rockets from deep by 3.5 threes and 10.5 points per game. Doncic averaged 5.5 and Reaves 0.5 made threes of 11.5 made threes per game by LA.

The Lakers’ major challenge will be replacing Luka Doncic’s 5.5 made threes per game, which puts immense 3-point shooting pressure on LeBron James, Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura, Luke Kennard, and Jake LaRavia.
The Lakers are going to need each of those 5 players to make 1 extra three than they would normally do to insure they can replace Doncic’s 5.5 made threes per game vs. Houston. That’s a challenging but not impossible task.

The Lakers might consider minutes for Dalton Knecht or Bronny James, who both went off and made 5 of 6 and 3 of 4 from deep respectively in the team’s final regular season 131–107 demolition of the hapless Utah Jazz.
Winning the 3-point battle against the Houston Rockets without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves will be challenging to say the least. The only way the Lakers can accomplish that is every Lakers player shoots lights out.

In the 3 games the Lakers just played without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves to end the regular season, the Lakers shot a sizzling 47.0% from deep, averaging 13.0 made threes and 27.7 attempted threes per game.
For 3 games, Hachimura made 2.3, James Jr. 2.0, Knecht 2.0, Smith Jr. 2.0, James 1.7, LaRavia 1.3, Kennard 1.0, and Smart 0.5 threes per game. Obviously, Lakers need more threes from James, Smart, and Kennard.

To beat the Rockets, the Lakers need LeBron James, Luke Kennard, Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura, Jake LaRavia, Nick Smith Jr., and Bronny James to replace the 6.0 threes per game Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves averaged.

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3. More Made Free Throws

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The other major offensive factor that powered the Lakers to sweep the Rockets in their back-to-back March series was made free throws, as the Lakers averaged 17.5 free throws made to just 13.0 for the Rockets.

The Lakers will also greatly miss Doncic and Reaves’ ability to draw fouls and make free throws. In the March back-to-back wins, Doncic averaged 6.5 and Reaves 5.0 for 11.5 of the 17.5 free throws the Lakers averaged.
The good news is that other than 2.5 free throws made per game by James and LaRavia, no other Laker shot free throws other than Ayton and Hayes, who both averaged just 0.5 free throws made per game for the 2 games.

Obviously, getting to the line is going to be a challence without Luka and Austin. LeBron James, Marcus Smart, and Deandre Ayton are the three Lakers left capable of drawing fouls and shooting volume free throws.
The Lakers are going to need the referees to call the fouls when LeBron, Marcus, Deandre get into the paint and get hacked attacking the rim. Hopefully, knowing the situation, the zebras will look to protect LeBron.

During the final 3 games the Lakers played without Luka and Austin to close out the regular season, LA saw their average free throws made per game drop from 20.4 per game season average to just 14.0 per game.
When you combine the loss of Doncic and Reaves with the traditional hesitancy to call fouls in the playoffs, winning the free throws made battle will obviously be the toughest of the three challenges facing the Lakers.

If the Lakers hope to win their first round matchup with the Rockets, they’re going to need LeBron James, Marcus Smart, and Deandre Ayton to generate 17 to 18 made free throws by relentlessly attack the rim.

Devastated by season-ending injuries to their superstar duo of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Los Angeles Lakers have no choice now but to turn to 41-year old LeBron James to come to the rescue and save their season.

There’s no question last week’s thrashing by the champion Thunder not only derailed the Lakers’ pipe dream of joining the West’s top tier of teams but likely also cost them any realistic chance of going deep in the playoffs. LA’s daunting championship path now requires #4 Lakers without Doncic and Reaves to win first round playoff series vs. #5 Rockets and hope Luka and/or Austin are miraculously back to beat the Thunder and then Spurs.

Before the first loss to the Thunder, the Lakers’ odds to win the NBA championship were at a season-best 30 to 1. After the first loss to OKC and news of Doncic’s and Reaves’ injuries, LA’s odds plummetted to 125 to 1.
With the #4 Lakers now scheduled to start their first round series with the #5 Rockets on Saturday April 18th at 5:30 pm PDT without Luka and Austin, the odds that undermanned LA would defeat Houston are around 6 to 1.

The good news for LA is that after their 3-game losing streak that included home and away thrashings by OKC, they seemingly once again strongly rebounded, finishing the season with an impressive 3-game win streak.
With James and Kennard taking over the playmaking and Hachimura and Ayton taking and making more shots, Redick and the Lakers hope to have found the formula to upset the Rockets in the first round of the playoffs.

The Lakers need to prolong the playoffs so Doncic and Reaves can return. Here are four reasons why LeBron James can rekindle Lakers’ extinguished championship hopes by defeating the Rockets in round one of the playoffs.

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1. ‘PLAYOFF’ LEBRON JAMES!

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The biggest reason the Lakers without Luka and Austin have a realistic chance to upset the Rockets and advance to the second round of the playoffs is ‘Playoff’ LeBron is healthy and already in playoff mode.

LeBron finished season with 20.9 points, 6.1 boards, 7.2 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.6 blocks in 33.2 mpg. In 3 games without Luka and Austin, he averaged 24.0 points, 6.0 boards, 9.7 assists, 3.0 steals, 0.3 blocks in 26.8 mpg.
While they can’t realistically ask a 41-year old superstar to lead them to a championship without Luka and Austin, the Lakers with a physically and mentally healthy and motivated ‘Playoff’ LeBron could beat the Rockets.

‘Playoff’ LeBron James is an entirely different animal than ‘Regular Season’ LeBron James. During the regular season, his career averages are 26.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 7.4 apg, 1.5 spg, 0.7 bpg with shooting splits of 51.5/34.8/73.7%.
During the playoffs, LeBron turns into a different player, especially on defense. James’ career playoff numbers across the board are 28.4 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 7.2 apg, 1.7 spg, 1.0 bpg with shooting splits of 49.6/33.3/74.1%.

While Doncic and Reaves hope to be able to return in time for the second round of the playoffs, James and his teammates will literally be playing for their purple and gold futures during the first round series vs. the Rockets.
What the Lakers’ new ownership decides to do next summer will likely depend greatly on how successful JJ Redick, LeBron James, and the rest of the roster are in defeating the Rockets in the first round of the playoffs.

There’s no bigger master of playoff basketball than LeBron James, the NBA West Player of the Week for the final week of the season. ‘Playoff’ LeBron is the single biggest reason the Lakers could upset the Rockets in Round 1.

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2. SMART & KENNARD BACKCOURT!

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While they can’t replace Luka and Austin’s 60 ppg, 12 rpg, and 14 apg, LA’s new starting backcourt of Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard has the scoring and playmaking chops to help LeBron beat Houston in playoffs first round.

32-year old Marcus Smart played 62 games with the Lakers, averaging 9.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.4 spg, and 0.4 bpg in 28.5 mpg. Smart is LA’s best defensive player and, without Doncic and Reaves, their best playmaker.
In the last 2 games since Luka and Austin were injured, Marcus averaged 5.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks in 22.2 mpg. Without Luka and Austin, his 8.5 assists per game was the difference.

29-year old Luke Kennard played 29 games with the Lakers, averaging 9.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.1 blocks in 23.0 mpg. Luke showed point guard savvy and skills he hadn’t used since high school.
In the 3 games since Luka and Austin were injured, Luke averaged 12.0 points, 1.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.3 steals, and 0.0 blocks in 23.8 mpg. Kennard has stepped up as a quality backup when Smart needs to rest.

While it will take a team-wide effort to replace Doncic and Reaves’ 60 ppg, Smart and Kennard combined should have an excellent change to match the 12 rpg and 14 apg averaged by the Lakers’ original starting backcourt.
The good news is Smart and Kennard understand the enormity of the challenge and are confident that, with the leadership of James, the Lakers are good enough to beat the Rockets even without Doncic and Reaves.

Losing your top two scoring and playmaking guards would be a death knell for most NBA teams but the recent elite backcourt play of Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard shows the diversity and depth of this Lakers roster.

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3. LAKERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP CULTURE!

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Despite Luka Doncic missing 18 games, Austin Reaves 31 games, and LeBron James 22 games, the Los Angeles Lakers not only survived but, when finally healthy, dominated due to their ‘championship culture.’

Starting with his exit interviews after the last year’s playoff exit, JJ Redick set an impossibly high bar for the offseason, challenging every Lakers player to come into this season’s training camp in ‘championship shape.’
While Doncic was the obvious target of the ‘championship shape’ demand, credit Luka for having already decided to copy his idol LeBron James, lose weight, and return to the elite physical condition he was in 5 years ago.

Redick believes being in ‘championship shape’ along with developing ‘championship habits’ and ‘championship communication’ are the three cornerstones required for NBA teams to build ‘championship culture.’
It’s ‘championship culture’ that powered the Lakers to win 53 games and #4 seed in West despite missing 70 games from their Big Three and post an NBA-best 22–8 ‘clutch’ record with the #1 ‘clutch’ offensive and net rating.

The Lakers’ ‘championship culture’ was in full display during their last 24 games of the season, when they posted a 19–5 win-loss record that was 3rd best in the entire NBA, behind only the powerhouse Thunder and Spurs.
While missing Doncic and Reaves, the Lakers showed in their last 3 games that the heart and core of their ‘championship culture’ still beats strong, winning 3 straght blowouts to clinch home court in Round 1 of the playoffs.

Their ‘championship culture’ is the third big reason why the Los Angeles Lakers have a realistic chance, even without Doncic and Reaves, to upset the Houston Rockets in the first round of the upcoming 2026 NBA Playoffs.

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4. LAKERS’ TOP-10 DEFENSE!

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Because of their juggernaut offense-first Big Three of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers’ defense hasn’t received the respect or recognition for becoming a legitimate top-10 NBA defense.

For the first 58 games, the Lakers posted a 116.8 defensive rating, which was #24 in the league. Over their last 24 games of the season, however, they have dramatically lowered their rating to 112.4, which was #9 in the league.
During that stretch, the Lakers defense shut down opponents, allowing the 1st fewest free throws, 3rd fewest 3-point makes, 9th fewest 3-point shots, 9th fewest points scored, 9th fewest assists, and 10th fewest rebounds.

Much of the criticism of the Lakers’ defense has been focused on the team’s offense-first Big Three of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and LeBron James, three players who are considered rightly or wrongly to be weak defenders.
Defensive ratings for first 58 games had Luka at 117.4 (#9), Austin at 113.9 (#5), and LeBron at 115.2 (#7). Defensive rating for last 24 games were much better. Luka was at 111.0 (#8), Austin at 109.9 (#6), and LeBron at 106.6 (#2).

During their recent 3-game winning streak to finish the season without Doncic and Reaves, the Lakers defense posted a 98.6 rating, which was #1 in the league, and a 23.3 net rating, which was also #1 in the league.
The Lakers’ defense for these 3 games was led by 10 players with individual defensive ratings of 100.0 or less, including all of LA’s projected rotation players with LeBron James’ surprising 86.7 the team-best defensive rating.

There’s a valid argument to be made that the Los Angeles Lakers’ team defense without Doncic and Reaves should be just as strong because those are their two weakest defenders on their starting and closing lineups.

While Thursday night’s devastating loss to the Thunder and season-ending injuries to Doncic and Reaves have realistically ended the Lakers’ season, there are critical roster building lessons LA needs to learn from the loss.

Regardless of how the rest of the season and playoffs go for LA, the devastating loss and Doncic’s and Reaves’ injuries should not undermine or diminish what JJ Redick and the Lakers as a team accomplished in March. Finally healthy, the Lakers went 16 of 18 in March, transforming a team desperately hanging onto #6 seed in the West into a legitimate contender with a Top-5 offense and Top-10 defense and near lock on the #3 seed.

But March was just the eye in the hurricane of injuries hitting the Lakers as they found out last Thursday night. Suddenly, LA’s remote hopes of even keeping the #3 seed are plummetting with just 5 games left in the season.
The challenge for JJ Redick and the Los Angeles Lakers right now, despite the loss to the Thunder and the injuries, is to show everybody that the transformation of the Laker’s was real and the OKC game an outlier.

That means turning to their championship culture and showing how ‘playing hard’ has become their cheat code and ‘next man up’ their norm. It was not just Luka and Austin pulling off those accomplishments in March.
JJ Redick and the rest of the Lakers now face the fight of their lives. How the Lakers respond over the next 5 games and through the first round of the playoffs could have major impact on what the Lakers do this summer.

The Lakers will have cap space and trading chips to dramatically upgrade their roster this summer. Here are the 3 critical roster building lessons the Lakers must learn from the Thunder loss and untimely star injuries.

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1. POWER TRUMPS FINESSE!

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As we saw during last Thursday’s matchup with the world champ Oklahoma City Thunder, power trumps finesse and overt physicality both on offense or defense has become the new winning strategy in today’s modern NBA.

The path to the NBA Championship over the next decade is going to go through the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, whom are the two NBA teams the Los Angeles Lakers must build their roster to defeat.
Saying that the Thunder overpowered the Lakers last Thursday would be a gross understatement. Defensively and offensively, from the opening tip to the ending buzzer, the Thunder bullied and overpowered the Lakers.

The killer for the Lakers in their disastrous 1-game take down is they won’t get a chance to see the Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic backcourt in the playoffs before having to re-sign the former to a new near-max contract.
We just saw that power trumps finesse as Austin and Luka were bullied and hounded by bigger, longer, stronger, more physical defenders. Could what LA needs to pair Luka with to beat OKC be Lu Dort and not Austin Reaves?

Ultimately, the Lakers will probably re-sign Reaves but the contract will likely to be closer to $30M per year than the $44M max he’s eligible for. The interesting wrinkle is OKC also has a team option on Lu Dort this summer.
To avoid taxes and create spots for younger, cheaper, and potentially better talent, the Thunder could theoretically allow Lugentz Dort and/or Isaih Hartenstein to become free agents or trade them for future draft capital.

At any rate, the Los Angeles Lakers will need more power both on offense and defense if they want to compete with the OKC Thunder. Reaves unable to play in the playoffs could change how the Lakers approach this summer.

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2 . DEPTH IS ESSENTIAL!

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Today’s NBA has become faster, quicker, and more physical, leading to more players suffering more injuries, missing more time, making deeper and more diverse bench depth not only critical but essential to winning.

The Lakers have always been known as a team that chases superstars and reports have been clear that LA plans to pursue a trade to pair Bucks’ superstar power forward Giannis Antetokoumnpo with Luka Doncic.
Trading what depth they have been able to build for an over-the-hill injury- prone 31-year old, $60M per year superstar Giannis Antetekounmpo would be as bad a front office mistake as trading Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis.

The regular season is a marathon, not a sprint, and the Thunder’s great depth and diversity keeps their players healthy and fresh and reduces injuries suffered by limiting the minutes played and roles players play.
The Thunder run a 12-man rotation that allows SGA to only play 34.4 mpg, while 8 other players contribute between 21.2 and 29.8 mpg and 3 other between 17.9 and 18.7 mpg. The Thunder’s 12 players averaged 23.9 mpg.

Contrast that with the Lakers, whose lack of depth just cost them the game, season, and possibly the future of their Big Three and Big Two. LA’s lack of depth likely contributed to Reaves’ and Doncic’s season-ending injuries.
The Lakers run a 9-man rotation where Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic played 37 mpg, LeBron 34 mpg, Marcus 31 mpg, and 6 other players who contributed between 19.3 to 25.6 mpg. 9 Lakers averaged 27.9 mpg.

LA would be smarter to use their millions in cap space and 3 first picks to build roster depth and diversity by pursuing legitimate two-way 3&D wings like Peyton Watson and Tari Eason than chasing Giannis Antetokounmpo.

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3. BIGGER, LONGER IS BETTER

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The single biggest move the Los Angeles Lakers could make this summer to better matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs would be to trade Austin Reaves to the Utah Jaz for center Walker Kessler.

At 7′ 2″ with a 7′ 5″ wingspan and 245 lbs of bruising muscle that could make life difficult for the Thunder’s smaller Isaih Hartenstein or the Spurs’ skinnier Victor Wembanyama, Kessler could be everything Ayton is not.
While nobody on the Lakers played well against the Thunder, Ayton posted his usual shrinking and disappearing act, recording 8 points, 1 rebound, 0 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks, and a -23 plus/minus in 20 minutes of play.

The Lakers have long coveted Walker Kessler but the Jazz have already announced they plan to keep the young center rather trade him, although that may not be realistic after their recent trade for Jaren Jackson, Jr.
Ironically, since Danny Ainge has already expressed interest in pursuing Austin Reaves in free agency, there could be some mutual interest between the Lakers and Jazz regarding a possible Kessler for Reaves mega swap.

Of course, the Lakers would then need to replace Austin Reaves so maybe the Spurs, who seem to have the Thunder’s number, win the championship this season and OKC decides to decline their team option on Luguentz Dort.
The Lakers then trade a pick for Dort, swap Reaves for Kessler, and sign Watson and Eason to roll out a new starting lineup for next season boasting Luka Doncic, Lu Dort, Peyton Watson, Tari Eason, and Walker Kessler.

While the Lakers need wings, their best opportunity to better matchup with the Thunder and Spurs is to trade for Walker Kessler, even if it costs them Austin Reaves. Kessler is the OKC and San Antonio equalizer.

The red hot Lakers who had beaten half of league’s top-10 teams while winning 16 of their last 18 were not only totally dominated last night 139–96 by the Thunder but also may have also lost Luke Doncic for the playoffs.

Suddenly, everything JJ Redick and the Los Angeles Lakers have built and accomplished over the last 5 weeks of joyous championship caliber play may be at risk of because of one untimely loss and devastating injury. No more dreams of a miracle MVP comeback, surprise playoff heroics, Laker championship rings, or a feel-good run-it-back campaign next summer. Without Doncic, this Lakers’ season and roster may be done.

Whether Luka can return for the playoffs or not, the Lakers can give up, lose their hold on the #3 seed, lose to the Nuggets in the first round, and accept their best move is an extreme roster makeover next summer.
Or they can show the championship culture they built this season is real and do what they did all season long, which is figure out how to win despite missing one of their stars by playing hard and trusting next man up.

The Lakers came in last night looking at the Thunder game as a measuring stick to judge their progress. They came out of the game with a beating that has put their character as competitors and future as a team on the line.
But now’s when we find out whether the championship culture JJ Redick and the Lakers built is real or just locker room hype and braggadacio. Even without Luka, these Lakers can still be a dangerous and tough team to beat.

Whether Luka can play or not, the Lakers need to remain confident and not panic, figure out how to fix what went wrong, take care of business in Dallas on Sunday, and get ready for revenge next Tuesday night at home.