65 games in and the team is starting to look a little sterner, little grittier. One of the ugliest first halves I’ve seen since the 90’s man. The win was one of the more impressive of the season, in my opinion.
1) Luka finding solace on the court. Sounds like his personal life has been difficult off the court, can’t be easy to make this decision in any situation, having the spotlight he has on him as an international superstar, an NBA superstar, and a Laker. It’s true that wealth and fame don’t guarantee ease of life. But that’s a good locker room to be in. Wish him and his family a smooth transition into this next phase.
2) Reaves found his mojo. In the second half Austin Reaves looked like the ass kicker from earlier this season. He hit tough shots off the dribble, two and-1 three pointers, and was generally a bad ass mofo.
3) Jake LaRavia looks better off the bench these days. Love the energy he brings, his shot has vanished and and he’s tough as nails. He, Vando, Kennard and Hayes work OK as a bench unit. As long as one of Reaves, Luka or LeBron is on the floor that group can bring some toughness.
4) Give the staff credit. They’re dropping the zone more and more, they’ve gotten into the top half of the league on D, and the offense (when Ayton tries) works OK. There’s a lot of room for improvement but they’ve made tangible improvements. It might not be a title winning team in the eyes of the media, but on a night like tonight, if you squint hard enough and remember that all good teams face adversity, you can almost imagine a world where we can win it all. Probably too many things that have broken against us, roster issues long past their time of solving, but there is an inkling of something better around the team these days.
5) Loving Luke Kennard. I haven’t wanted to jinx it. This is what the Lakers have been searching for. The dude fits like a glove.
Great fiver, Jamie. Lakers peaking at just the right time. JJ Redick deserves praise for how this team is finally coming together.
1. Luka showing true professionalism by not allowing the personal life difficulties affect his game. Being an international superstar does have some disadvantages. Hope all works out well with him and his family. Hate to see this happening right now.
2. Austin looked great last night. Glad to see JJ tell him to be aggressive. It’s an entirely different Austin when he attacks like he did last night. Great second half after not being able to hit anything in that first half. Gritty win that really was a statement.
3. Jake was the perfect example of a guy doing everything he could to help us win despite not being able to make a shot for the life of him. Loved his energy and defense. Just needs to hit his threes.
4. JJ has done a terrific job. This team has struggled because of the injuries and the redundancy of having three offense-first superstars. JJ has everybody invested now in winning. Instead of worrying about their future. Now guys see the team could have a long playoff run this season, maybe all the way to the conference finals. Hard to imagine the Lakers not wanting to bring back shooters like Rui and Luke. Even guys like Kleber and Hayes could be coming back on team friendly contracts.
5. Let’s just hope Thursday night’s TRAP game won’t hurt us.