Iztok Franko: Lakers-Warriors observations dispatched!

March 1, 2026 at 8:09 am

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Lakers put out the fire, win convincingly

The Lakers righted the ship. After three consecutive losses, they got a much-needed win and restored some positive energy. Doing it on Luka Dončić’s 27th birthday only added more good vibes to the team that needed them badly.

Source: Los Angeles Lakers post on X

The team they beat, the Warriors without Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler, was not particularly impressive, although this same group beat the Nuggets recently. But the manner in which the Lakers did it was. They won 129–101 in a wire-to-wire blowout, building a 30-point lead in the third quarter that allowed JJ Redick to keep all of his players under 30 minutes. That is not insignificant, with the Kings waiting on the second night of a back-to-back.

Today’s notes:

A balanced three-headed attack (VIDEO)

Luke Kennard, the missing ingredient in the blender (VIDEO)

The other end of the three-point variance stick

Another look at the tweaked rotations

Looking ahead to a busy March

1-A balanced three-headed attack (VIDEO)

The lack of offensive rhythm, especially chemistry between the three stars, has been one of the main talking points during this recent slump. At least for one night, the Lakers’ trio put that aside. You could feel the emphasis on ball movement and a more balanced attack. Austin Reaves, who has often been the one squeezed out, came out aggressive, scoring 11 points in the first quarter without missing a shot.

Once Reaves took a breather (more on the new rotations later), LeBron James took over. James, who has struggled from three this season at just 31 percent, knocked down his first four attempts from deep and scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half.

Then, to open the third quarter, Dončić, who had a quiet 10-point, six-assist first half, put his foot on the gas. He essentially put the Warriors away with absurd shotmaking, drilling four threes in less than five minutes.

Despite all the other concerns, the Lakers showed that when all three of their stars are on their game, especially when the ball is moving, they can still overpower teams with sheer talent. They scored at a rate of 140 points per 100 possessions against a top-10 defense.

2-Luke Kennard, the missing ingredient in the blender (VIDEO)

When the Lakers traded for Kennard at the deadline, it opened the possibility for Redick to lean even further into an all-offense approach, adding more shooting and spacing around his three primary ball handlers.

Last night was an example of how effective that can be. Kennard knocked down four threes and provided a much-needed punch off the bench with 16 points. But more than his outside shot, it is his drive-and-kick game, the way he keeps the defense on its heels, that has impressed the most in his short Lakers tenure. Postgame, Redick praised Kennard, saying, “He just starts the blender for us,” describing him as someone who is very adept at maintaining an advantage, whether by driving to score or driving and kicking out. Another term Redick used for it was connective offense.

One of the knocks on Kennard has been that he is not quite a high-volume three-point shooter, at least not for someone as deadly as he is. His unselfishness and his ability to punish defenses that chase him off the line are part of the reason. It is also what distinguishes him from more static spacing options like Rui Hachimura or Dorian Finney-Smith.

3-The other end of the three-point variance stick

The Lakers faced two undermanned opponents in their last two games, both missing their top two scoring options. The Suns and the Warriors have tried to compensate for that talent deficit by turning games into high-volume, high-variance three-point shootouts. Both teams took more than half of their shots from beyond the arc.

Source: Cleaning the Glass

But while Grayson Allen, Collin Gillespie, and the Suns punished nearly every poor rotation and late closeout from the Lakers, the Warriors could not buy a three early, no matter how clean the look. The Warriors made only five of their 24 three-point attempts in the first half.

And while their pace, constant movement, and trademark split cuts were often too much for the Lakers’ shaky defense to handle, their shotmaking was nowhere near enough to match the Lakers, who hit 46 percent from deep. Dončić, James, and Kennard each buried four, with LaRavia chipping in three more.

4-Another look at the tweaked rotations

The Lakers’ ongoing search for the best way to deploy their star trio, and the underwhelming lineup data when Dončić, James, and Reaves share the floor, has recently shifted from a niche topic discussed by Lakers analysts and data enthusiasts like me to a broader national conversation.

In my last lineup deep dive, I floated one possible tweak for Redick: longer Dončić–Reaves stretches, balanced by more minutes with James running the offense while the other two sit.

Lakers Lineups Deep Dive: A Testing Ground for the Summer Rebuild
Iztok Franko
·
Feb 18

Lakers Lineups Deep Dive: A Testing Ground for the Summer Rebuild
I’m traveling this week, enjoying Norway and its icy cold winter, with tons of snow and long cross-country skiing sessions. I actually planned to take a full week off from content. But I couldn’t help myself. Somewhere between climbs on the cross-country skis and trying not to freeze my face off, I found my mind drifting back to the Lakers.

Read full story

That is exactly how Redick and his staff have tweaked the rotations over the last two games. You can see longer Dončić–Reaves stretches with James off the floor, marked by the orange blocks, followed by light green James-only units, and no purple Reaves–James lineups with Dončić sitting.

Source: pbp stats

One other minor wrinkle we saw last night was a brief stretch of Maxi Kleber at the five in the second quarter. Kleber looked great in his 13 minutes, recording three blocks and finishing twice at the rim off passes from James, including one dunk.

5-Looking ahead to a busy March

The Lakers are heading into a very busy March, with 17 games in 31 days, including four back-to-backs. The first of those concludes tonight when they host the lowly Kings, who have won only three times in their last 20 games at Crypto.com Arena.

Source: NBA official website

The Lakers have to handle their business tonight and in the upcoming games against two other cellar-dwellers, the Pelicans and the Pacers, over the next four games.

After that, the March schedule gets much tougher, with several games against direct rivals in the standings, two against the Nuggets, two against the Rockets, and one against the Timberwolves. Add to that three matchups with Eastern Conference powerhouses, the Pistons, Knicks, and Cavaliers, all of whom have already beaten the Lakers this season.

The Lakers have played some uninspiring basketball, going 6–6 in February. However, Redick has expressed confidence that they can still change course over the remainder of the season if everyone stays healthy.

Source: Lakers Nation post on X

One convincing win is a good start, but it certainly won’t erase the doubts that have accumulated over the course of the season. To truly shift the narrative, the Lakers will need to make a real stand in the upcoming games against their key rivals, and ideally leapfrog some of them in the standings.

Comments

LakerTom says

March 1, 2026 at 8:09 am

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Lakers put out the fire, win convincingly

The Lakers righted the ship. After three consecutive losses, they got a much-needed win and restored some positive energy. Doing it on Luka Dončić’s 27th birthday only added more good vibes to the team that needed them badly.

Source: Los Angeles Lakers post on X

The team they beat, the Warriors without Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler, was not particularly impressive, although this same group beat the Nuggets recently. But the manner in which the Lakers did it was. They won 129–101 in a wire-to-wire blowout, building a 30-point lead in the third quarter that allowed JJ Redick to keep all of his players under 30 minutes. That is not insignificant, with the Kings waiting on the second night of a back-to-back.

Today’s notes:

A balanced three-headed attack (VIDEO)

Luke Kennard, the missing ingredient in the blender (VIDEO)

The other end of the three-point variance stick

Another look at the tweaked rotations

Looking ahead to a busy March

1-A balanced three-headed attack (VIDEO)

The lack of offensive rhythm, especially chemistry between the three stars, has been one of the main talking points during this recent slump. At least for one night, the Lakers’ trio put that aside. You could feel the emphasis on ball movement and a more balanced attack. Austin Reaves, who has often been the one squeezed out, came out aggressive, scoring 11 points in the first quarter without missing a shot.

Once Reaves took a breather (more on the new rotations later), LeBron James took over. James, who has struggled from three this season at just 31 percent, knocked down his first four attempts from deep and scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half.

Then, to open the third quarter, Dončić, who had a quiet 10-point, six-assist first half, put his foot on the gas. He essentially put the Warriors away with absurd shotmaking, drilling four threes in less than five minutes.

Despite all the other concerns, the Lakers showed that when all three of their stars are on their game, especially when the ball is moving, they can still overpower teams with sheer talent. They scored at a rate of 140 points per 100 possessions against a top-10 defense.

2-Luke Kennard, the missing ingredient in the blender (VIDEO)

When the Lakers traded for Kennard at the deadline, it opened the possibility for Redick to lean even further into an all-offense approach, adding more shooting and spacing around his three primary ball handlers.

Last night was an example of how effective that can be. Kennard knocked down four threes and provided a much-needed punch off the bench with 16 points. But more than his outside shot, it is his drive-and-kick game, the way he keeps the defense on its heels, that has impressed the most in his short Lakers tenure. Postgame, Redick praised Kennard, saying, “He just starts the blender for us,” describing him as someone who is very adept at maintaining an advantage, whether by driving to score or driving and kicking out. Another term Redick used for it was connective offense.

One of the knocks on Kennard has been that he is not quite a high-volume three-point shooter, at least not for someone as deadly as he is. His unselfishness and his ability to punish defenses that chase him off the line are part of the reason. It is also what distinguishes him from more static spacing options like Rui Hachimura or Dorian Finney-Smith.

3-The other end of the three-point variance stick

The Lakers faced two undermanned opponents in their last two games, both missing their top two scoring options. The Suns and the Warriors have tried to compensate for that talent deficit by turning games into high-volume, high-variance three-point shootouts. Both teams took more than half of their shots from beyond the arc.

Source: Cleaning the Glass

But while Grayson Allen, Collin Gillespie, and the Suns punished nearly every poor rotation and late closeout from the Lakers, the Warriors could not buy a three early, no matter how clean the look. The Warriors made only five of their 24 three-point attempts in the first half.

And while their pace, constant movement, and trademark split cuts were often too much for the Lakers’ shaky defense to handle, their shotmaking was nowhere near enough to match the Lakers, who hit 46 percent from deep. Dončić, James, and Kennard each buried four, with LaRavia chipping in three more.

4-Another look at the tweaked rotations

The Lakers’ ongoing search for the best way to deploy their star trio, and the underwhelming lineup data when Dončić, James, and Reaves share the floor, has recently shifted from a niche topic discussed by Lakers analysts and data enthusiasts like me to a broader national conversation.

In my last lineup deep dive, I floated one possible tweak for Redick: longer Dončić–Reaves stretches, balanced by more minutes with James running the offense while the other two sit.

Lakers Lineups Deep Dive: A Testing Ground for the Summer Rebuild
Iztok Franko
·
Feb 18

Lakers Lineups Deep Dive: A Testing Ground for the Summer Rebuild
I’m traveling this week, enjoying Norway and its icy cold winter, with tons of snow and long cross-country skiing sessions. I actually planned to take a full week off from content. But I couldn’t help myself. Somewhere between climbs on the cross-country skis and trying not to freeze my face off, I found my mind drifting back to the Lakers.

Read full story

That is exactly how Redick and his staff have tweaked the rotations over the last two games. You can see longer Dončić–Reaves stretches with James off the floor, marked by the orange blocks, followed by light green James-only units, and no purple Reaves–James lineups with Dončić sitting.

Source: pbp stats

One other minor wrinkle we saw last night was a brief stretch of Maxi Kleber at the five in the second quarter. Kleber looked great in his 13 minutes, recording three blocks and finishing twice at the rim off passes from James, including one dunk.

5-Looking ahead to a busy March

The Lakers are heading into a very busy March, with 17 games in 31 days, including four back-to-backs. The first of those concludes tonight when they host the lowly Kings, who have won only three times in their last 20 games at Crypto.com Arena.

Source: NBA official website

The Lakers have to handle their business tonight and in the upcoming games against two other cellar-dwellers, the Pelicans and the Pacers, over the next four games.

After that, the March schedule gets much tougher, with several games against direct rivals in the standings, two against the Nuggets, two against the Rockets, and one against the Timberwolves. Add to that three matchups with Eastern Conference powerhouses, the Pistons, Knicks, and Cavaliers, all of whom have already beaten the Lakers this season.

The Lakers have played some uninspiring basketball, going 6–6 in February. However, Redick has expressed confidence that they can still change course over the remainder of the season if everyone stays healthy.

Source: Lakers Nation post on X

One convincing win is a good start, but it certainly won’t erase the doubts that have accumulated over the course of the season. To truly shift the narrative, the Lakers will need to make a real stand in the upcoming games against their key rivals, and ideally leapfrog some of them in the standings.

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