FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Thursday night was ugly, but it was just one game for the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Los Angeles Lakers’ embarrassing 139-96 blowout to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night really felt like rock bottom in a lot of ways. Whatever could go wrong did go wrong in several different aspects.

From the jump, the Lakers got absolutely battered by the Thunder. Luka Doncic tweaked a hamstring that would eventually force him to exit the game for good, and await MRIs on Friday. There was really no silver lining from the performance itself. However, LeBron James found one that goes beyond this individual matchup.

“Nothing has changed. … Nothing is rattled. It’s one game. It’s part of the NBA season. It’s defending champions.
We get it. We understand.”

James said what one would expect from the oldest player on the team (and in the NBA). The 41-year-old has been through just about any and every scenario that one could imagine in the league. That veteran leadership and steadying hand will be huge for the Lakers moving forward.

LeBron James’ leadership will be worth its weight in gold for the Lakers
There is still no concrete answer on just how severe the Doncic injury will be for the Lakers down the stretch. However, there could be a real possibility of the Lakers superstar missing the rest of the regular season, with only five games left after this beatdown.

Still a lot of details to sort through re: Doncic’s hamstring injury but there’s a lot on the line. This season the average time lost for nondescript hamstring strains in the NBA has been ~22 days (~9 games). That’s higher than the historical averages of 12.1 days (~5 games).

— Jeff Stotts (@InStreetClothes) April 3, 2026

If that does end up becoming the case, a lot of eyes and pressure will be on the duo of James and Austin Reaves to fill Doncic’s MVP-sized shoes. There is actually even more reason to believe more of that will actually fall on LeBron to turn back the clock.

Reaves dealt with his own injury problems in the Thunder game, exiting with an ailment in his lower back before ultimately returning to the matchup. If the Lakers want to exercise some form of caution with him following his superstar teammate’s injury, no one could blame them.

That would leave the Lakers with five games that require everything James can still offer at his age.

LeBron is already saying all the right things. That should really come as no surprise. When the Thunder were beating the brakes off the Lakers, James was noticeably more poised than some of his teammates. That demeanor will need to carry over to this final stretch.

The Lakers will get a little bit of extra time off after the regular season is over to rest up since they secured a playoff spot earlier this week. If Doncic is forced to miss an extended stretch, hopefully for the Lakers and their fans, that can be the difference in him being back (and fully healthy) in time for the first-round. Until then, James will need to play his part as the guiding hand for Los Angeles.

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

After a historic 15–2 run in March, the Lakers’ best in more than 25 years, this team reached a real high. It was a month defined by Luka Dončić doing unprecedented things, breaking scoring records and earning another Player of the Month. And with how up-and-down this season has been, the crash almost felt inevitable…it was always going to be hard.

Iztok Franko
@iztok_franko

But I was told Luka was only good for 3 weeks…won his second Player of the Month award (only Luka and Cade have more than one).
And averaged 35/9/8, with Lakers opening the season 15-4 in Oct/Nov when the first award was given.

NBA @NBA
The @Kia NBA Players of the Month for March!

West: Luka Dončić (@Lakers)
East: Jalen Johnson (@ATLHawks)
12:21 PM · Apr 2, 2026 · 17K Views
15 Replies · 76 Reposts · 569 Likes

First, the Lakers got blown off the floor in OKC in express fashion, looking like the helpless team we saw earlier in the season.

Then, to make it much worse, Luka Dončić suffered another injury to his left hamstring, the same one that caused him to miss several games in February.

Today’s notes:

What Luka’s injury could mean for the playoffs (VIDEO)

What Luka’s injury means for award eligibility

First-round knockout (VIDEO)

Stress-test feedback loop

The power of infrastructure

1-What Luka’s injury could mean for the playoffs (VIDEO)

Let’s start from the end, or from the worst part. Dončić, who had been grabbing at his left hamstring as early as the second quarter, suffered the injury on a drive against Jalen Williams with 7:41 left in the third. And the optics were not good. At all.

It was a non-contact injury on a deceleration move, when the strain on the hamstring is at its highest. Dončić grabbed for it immediately, then stayed down for a moment before slowly walking off the court, head buried in his jersey in frustration.

Obviously, it’s impossible to speculate about the severity until the MRI later today.

Dave McMenamin
@mcten

Luka Doncic will undergo an MRI on Friday to determine the extent of his left hamstring injury, a source familiar with Doncic’s situation told ESPN

8:35 PM · Apr 2, 2026 · 376K Views
137 Replies · 379 Reposts · 3.02K Likes

But according to NBA injury expert and friend of this substack, Jeff Stotts, even an average hamstring strain this season could keep Dončić out through the start of the playoffs.

Jeff Stotts
@InStreetClothes

Still a lot of details to sort through re: Doncic’s hamstring injury but there’s a lot on the line. This season the average time lost for nondescript hamstring strains in the NBA has been ~22 days (~9 games). That’s higher than the historical averages of 12.1 days (~5 games).

8:44 PM · Apr 2, 2026 · 132K Views
1 Reply · 12 Reposts · 92 Likes

Again, hopefully the Lakers and Dončić get good news today, and he can recover in time for the playoffs, which start in 15 days. However, for any real success, the Lakers need Luka in his March MVP form, not limited or working his way back from a recurring injury. So, a really tough break after such a positive and optimistic stretch.

2-What Luka’s injury means for award eligibility

Another brutal twist is that this was Dončić’s 64th game of the season, one short of the 65-game threshold for NBA awards.

Tim Bontemps
@TimBontemps

It obviously is of far lesser concern than his playoff availability, but if Luka Doncic is out for the final 10 days of the regular season, he won’t be eligible for end-of-season awards, after Anthony Edwards was eliminated from eligibility by missing Minnesota’s game tonight.

8:15 PM · Apr 2, 2026 · 202K Views
52 Replies · 89 Reposts · 992 Likes

The Lakers have only five games and nine days left, with their final one on April 12 at home against the Jazz, for Dončić to potentially return and reach the required number.

What is clear now is that, after last night’s performance, Dončić’s late MVP push, if it was realistic in the first place, has come to an end. Missing out on a First Team All-NBA selection for the second straight season because of injury would be a tough blow, especially after such an outstanding year. If that happens, Dončić would join Cade Cunningham and Anthony Edwards as other stellar guards rendered ineligible due to injury setbacks.

NBA on ESPN
@ESPNNBA

Anthony Edwards is out for Thursday’s game against the Pistons with right knee pain and an illness.

The Timberwolves star is now ineligible for end of season NBA awards, including All-NBA and MVP.

3:28 PM · Apr 2, 2026 · 139K Views
108 Replies · 152 Reposts · 1.62K Likes

3-First-round knockout (VIDEO)

Now, let’s talk about the game. If I weren’t a bit masochistic, I could just link back to my notes from the first game in November. This was a carbon copy. Only worse.

The Lakers opened the game with a couple of sloppy passes, the one thing you just can’t afford against a ball-hawking team like the Thunder, and it was all it took for the dam to break. Inspired by those easy turnovers, the Thunder ramped up their aggressiveness, and the Lakers folded.

The Lakers had eight first-quarter turnovers, three of them coming off reckless passes by Austin Reaves, and another three on attempts by Dončić and LeBron James to feed Deandre Ayton, with the big man either not playing with enough force to protect the ball or simply not able to secure the pass.

Mix in the Thunder’s exceptional shotmaking, as they made seven of their first 10 three-point attempts, including Lu Dort hitting his first four, and the game was effectively over with a 23-point deficit after the first quarter.

4-Stress-test feedback loop

This was a real stress test for the improved Lakers, going up against the best team and a historically disruptive defense. Unfortunately, after a stretch of inspiring performances in March, the cracks from earlier in the season showed up again.

The Lakers looked like the finesse, athletically challenged team, unable to handle the pressure OKC applied on every possession, every dribble, every touch, every pass.

It’s easy to overreact after a beating like this, but with another shot at the Thunder coming Tuesday, there’s no need to panic just yet.

However, this game added to patterns we’ve seen in high-profile losses all season. Marcus Smart is the only player on the roster who brings that physicality and edge, while the Thunder have several younger versions of him flying around. Without him, the Lakers have no one to throw at a player like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to make his life even a bit more difficult. Jake LaRavia tried and had a good start, but as the game progressed, it became clear he is out of his depth in the primary point-of-attack defender role. The difference in physicality between Deandre Ayton and Isaiah Hartenstein, who dominated the offensive glass, showed once again that every playoff game will be a roll of the dice when it comes to which version of Ayton shows up. Rui Hachimura and Luke Kennard are the epitome of that finesse label, and in today’s fast-paced, aggressive NBA, it’s hard to see them surviving a physical seven-game playoff series.

Lastly, Bronny James getting real rotation minutes over Jarred Vanderbilt was another reminder of how little trust JJ Redick has in Vando, and how talent-deprived the Lakers bench is compared to OKC’s second unit, which was missing Alex Caruso but still rolled out Cason Wallace, Ajay Mitchell, Isaiah Joe, Jared McCain, Aaron Wiggins, and Jaylin Williams.

5-The power of infrastructure

I don’t want this to sound like an excuse for Dončić, because even before the injury he had a rough game. The Thunder consistently showed two defenders or sent doubles, forcing him into a passer and getting the ball out of his hands. But their rotations out of those doubles are so quick that the usual advantage basketball the Lakers thrive on doesn’t really feel like an advantage. Dončić’s shotmaking wasn’t there, and the Thunder’s on-ball pressure bothered him, leading to three turnovers off lost handles. Definitely not the kind of performance he needed in his head-to-head MVP battle against Gilgeous-Alexander.

However, watching the Lakers get dismantled in the first quarter, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was the best showcase of the power of infrastructure, the under-discussed aspect of the MVP race I wrote about earlier this week.

NBA MVP Race: The Undervalued Power of Infrastructure
Iztok Franko
·
Mar 30
NBA MVP Race: The Undervalued Power of Infrastructure

The NBA season is coming to an end, and we’ve got one of the tightest MVP races in recent years.

Read full story

Both Dončić and Gilgeous-Alexander started cold, with SGA missing five of his first six shots, yet OKC kept rolling and crushing the Lakers regardless.

The gap in talent and depth is only part of the infrastructure. The continuity and experience built over several seasons and two deep playoff runs, the system, the connectivity, the clear identity, those are the things that make the Thunder so special.

The Lakers’ infrastructure, with several new, temporary pieces, is far more fragile. They look great when shots are falling, but it gets tested quickly at the first sign of adversity. Then the cracks show…like a lack of trust in Ayton to seal, catch, and finish inside, or botched rotations coupled with a lack of second and third effort on defense. Being battle-tested over many playoff series builds that trust. But this group probably won’t get that many chances.

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

No one believes the Lakers are going to win the championship.

And no one believes Luka Doncic is the MVP.

The Lakers’ nine-game winning streak? All that proved is the Lakers will likely get past the first round of the playoffs.

Doncic’s unreal March in which he scored the second-most points in NBA history behind Michael Jordan? As he recently pointed out with disgust, he actually fell in the MVP race during that stretch.

But both the Lakers and Doncic have a chance to change people’s minds. It’s coming over the next seven days in the form of two games against the Thunder.

If the Lakers beat the reigning NBA champions, their stock will skyrocket. And if Doncic outshines the reigning MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, he could win the MVP Award.

The Lakers are coming off a commanding win over the Cavaliers on Tuesday in which they led by as much as 27 points. They’ve won 16 of their last 18 games, including beating multiple contenders in the Rockets (twice), Nuggets, Knicks and Timberwolves.

But they haven’t convinced anyone they’re the real deal.

Yeah, they’re good. But not good enough to get past the Thunder and Spurs.

It’s a fair assumption considering the last time they played the Thunder and their swarming defense in January, they looked like they had barely survived a war.

Seriously, Austin Reaves was slumped in his chair, too exhausted to sit upright. And LeBron James’ voice was hoarse. (Doncic missed that game, to be fair, but it was still brutal.)

But the thing is the Lakers are a completely different team now.

Doncic, Reaves and James went from being a liability on the court into one of the best trios in the league. The role players are starring in their duties. Things turned around for the Lakers beginning in late February.

What changed?

“I think it was a confluence of things starting with health,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said, pointing to the fact that the Big 3 had only played 11 games together before the All-Star break. “I think it’s much easier when you have a consistent stretch of health to — not even buy in — but settle into roles and minutes and rotations. We never found that throughout the season. Another big part of that was…guys really just embracing things.”

After James missed a three-game stretch at the top of March against the Pacers, Knicks and Timberwolves in which the Lakers were thriving behind Doncic and Reaves, he agreed to be the team’s third option. Reaves has learned to be aggressive while sharing the court with James and Doncic. And Doncic has been playing out of his mind.

But still, no one really believes in the Lakers.

Not yet.

Same with Doncic.

Both Doncic and his fans have been outraged that the bar for the MVP Award seems to change whenever his name is involved. So what he’s an offensive savant who’s leading the league in scoring (33.8 points) is third in assists (8.3) and sixth in steals (1.7)? He’s mediocre on the defensive end.

Sure, that didn’t seem to matter when guys like James Harden or Steph Curry won the award. But in this MVP race, with two-way stars Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama, the goalpost has shifted.

That’s being held against Doncic, who scored 40-plus points for the third straight game on Tuesday and has had a month in which he had 60-point and 51-point performances while helping his team climb to third in the Western Conference standings.

Wembanyama recently stated his case for why he should win the award. Gilgeous-Alexander declined to do so, saying, “I let my game do the talking,”

When Doncic was asked Tuesday if he wanted to advocate for himself, he seemed resigned to the fact that it would be an act of futility. He literally scoffed when the reporter mentioned he was “getting a lot of MVP momentum.”

“I mean, I never did that,” Doncic said. “I’m not the one voting, so, you know, but I think I’ve been playing pretty good. We’ve been winning. So that’s it. That’s all I gotta say.”

Well, Doncic, here’s your chance to change voters’ minds.

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

It takes nearly a quarter-mile walk from the curb to the bus inside Terminal 4 at Los Angeles International Airport — a walk that includes a trip up two flights of stairs, down two escalators, through the mosaic-walled hallway that Pam Grier strutted through in “Jackie Brown,” and back up again. Then, it’s a 10-minute shuttle ride alongside the runway, weaving past planes and service vehicles, before arriving at the remote American Airlines terminal for one of the only direct flights.

That’s how you get to Oklahoma City from Los Angeles. The Lakers? That’s a different story. They were good, then bad. They were faux-contenders, and they now have a real chance to play deep into the playoffs.

The Lakers arrive in Oklahoma as the league’s hottest team — save for the one they are playing Thursday night. They bring the NBA’s best player — save for the reigning MVP who is still the heavy-betting favorite. They arrive with a clear winning style of play — only to test it against a Thunder team that Lakers coach JJ Redick says has been honing it for five years.

To a casual observer, the Lakers might look like they’ve been good for five weeks. But Thursday’s game against the NBA’s defending champions and current best team in the league is a tremendous opportunity for the Lakers to test their emerging beliefs that they might just have a championship team on their hands as well.

It really shouldn’t be surprising — the Lakers opened the season with three goals explicitly written out: championship habits, championship communication and championship shape.

After they dominated the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 127-113 win on Tuesday that wasn’t as close as the score would suggest, veteran Maxi Kleber was one of the last players in the Lakers’ home locker room after a postgame workout. He didn’t play against Cleveland, but he’s watched as the Lakers won 15 of 17 games, and a group return to the form it was at during its 15-4 start.

“We kind of established this from the start, you know?” he told The Athletic.

While the Lakers’ “championship” recipe could’ve easily been dismissed as the kind of coach-speak that lives on T-shirts and locker room walls, the messaging seeped into Kleber and Lakers’ psyche.

“A lot of times, like, when you see it, obviously, you can look at it and say ‘It’s bulls—,’ Kleber said. “But at the end of the day, it still is a daily reminder. You know, you look at the board, you see it … sometimes, maybe it gets overemphasized and you make a joke about it. But it’s relevant in your head. I think that’s important.”

Right now, it’s a Lakers team that’s playing well and playing for one another.

After Jake LaRavia threw down a one-handed dunk over Jarrett Allen, Deandre Ayton greeted him on the bench with a bear hug. When Luka Dončić scored his 600th point of March on a two-handed dunk of all ways, the LeBron James and the Lakers’ bench erupted. Dončić celebrated with two hands hoisted into the air and a gigantic smile.

“There are a million different forms of leadership, and every guy has their own responsibility to lead in whatever way they can. And, whether it’s Smart defensively, LeBron making hustle plays, Jake with his physicality. That’s leadership,” Redick said. “… Our team right now is the reason that we’re winning. Our team – because each guy has contributed to winning.”

Redick, when asked about the things that have changed about his team, proceeded to list every player that’s been in the regular rotation. Yes, the Lakers got healthy. Yes, the Lakers established clear hierarchy and roles. And yes, the Lakers are getting MVP performances from their best player.

But not one thing is the reason why the Lakers have hit this level. It’s been all of them.

“I think it was a confluence of things,” Redick said.

If there’s a team equipped to puncture the Lakers’ confidence, though, it’s the Thunder. In March, the Lakers went 15-2. The Thunder went 14-1.

“Very exciting,” Austin Reaves said of the meeting. “Obviously, they’re defending champs. Playing at a high level, obviously, one of the best teams in the league, if not the best team. And we have an opportunity to go into OKC and battle them.”

Dončić closed the month with 37.5 points per game on 49.2 percent shooting from the field with 8.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2.3 steals. Reaves led the league with minutes over the month, a testament to his toughness as he deals with a handful of minor injuries. And James has become an efficiency machine, hitting 56.2 percent of his shots to go with 6.9 rebounds and 7.0 assists.

“We just figure out how to play together,” Dončić said. “I think our ceiling is still higher than what we’re doing now, but I think we all know basketball, a lot of basketball, so it’s just very natural.”

In some ways, it feels like the Lakers have reached their destination — a team that’s playing selfless, that’s reveling in each other’s successes and covering for their failures. But early April isn’t June. And the Thunder have already shown what it takes to get there.

For now, the Lakers are content enough knowing that they’re merely on their way.

Luka Doncic fue nominado al Jugador Defensivo del mes de Marzo Aquí te dejo 10 minutos (DIEZ MINUTOS) de la defensa de Luka Doncic esta temporada.Dejemos la mentira. Veamos los juegos y dejemos de repetir lo que dice el otro. pic.twitter.com/YMec5GooTS— YostinNBA (@YostinNBA) April 2, 2026

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Luka and the Lakers close their March Madness in style.

The Lakers closed March in impressive fashion, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 127–113 in a convincing win.

It was the perfect cherry on top of an incredible month. Despite a tough, condensed schedule, the Lakers went 15–2, good for the most wins in that span, and clinched their 50th win before April.

A month that completely flipped the vibes and the narrative around the team.

Not long ago, this was a group that “couldn’t beat good teams.” Over the last 30 days, they’ve beaten the Knicks, Wolves, Nuggets, Rockets twice, and now the Cavaliers.

And right at the center of it all, Luka Dončić. A month ago, he was the focal point of what felt like a coordinated, league-wide smear campaign. Now, he’s playing at a level so dominant that even the biggest skeptics can’t ignore him in the MVP race.

Today’s notes:

Luka, what are we witnessing? (VIDEO)

Shift in strategy leads to one of the better defensive performances this season

Deandre Ayton doing the dirty work on the boards and screens (VIDEO)

Jake LaRavia’s long overdue payback for his hustle

Lakers at their best when the blender is ON (VIDEO)

1-Luka, what are we witnessing? (VIDEO)

In my preview, I mentioned this would be a matchup of two high-octane offenses on a heater, and that the winner might come down to which one could dominate more.

After a hot start and a high-scoring first quarter on both sides, there was no doubt. The Cavs cooled off, while Luka Dončić was just getting warmed up.

Dončić closed with another ridiculous stat line: 42 points, 12 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 0 turnovers, and 6 threes. Just another otherworldly performance in a growing list of them.

It’s hard to find new words to describe Dončić’s recent excellence. Sometimes the only thing left to do is just enjoy and appreciate the greatness we’re watching.

Jovan Buha
@jovanbuha
JJ Redick said Luka Doncic had as good of a month (March) as any player in NBA history. He cited LeBron James, James Harden and Steph Curry as examples of players who have had similar caliber months.
10:08 PM · Mar 31, 2026 · 12.3K Views
3 Replies · 55 Reposts · 666 Likes

2-Shift in strategy leads to one of the better defensive performances this season

Going into this game, especially with Marcus Smart missing his fifth straight game due to an ankle contusion, there was real concern about how the Lakers would handle one of the hottest perimeter duos without their only proven point-of-attack defender.

The Lakers struggled with James Harden early, either conceding easy floaters or finishes at the rim for his main pick-and-roll partner, Jarrett Allen, giving up a total of 34 first-quarter points.

To JJ Redick’s credit, he didn’t wait for his team to figure it out chasing Harden around screens. He changed course, going with what he calls “fifteen,” a switch-everything 1-through-5 scheme, with help behind the play to protect the on-ball defender. The switching pushed the Cavs into isolation-heavy basketball, where nobody besides Allen on the block, found any rhythm. And you’ll take Jarrett Allen leading the scoring on a team with Harden and Donovan Mitchell any day of the week. The Lakers held Mitchell to just six field goals and two first-half points, finishing with only 10, almost 18 below his season average. Harden finished with 17 points and just 3 assists, while Evan Mobley scored only six.

Cleveland was on the second night of a back-to-back, traveling from Utah, but that shouldn’t take away from the Lakers’ defensive performance in the second and third quarters, when they completely shut down one of the most potent offenses in the NBA.

3-Deandre Ayton doing the dirty work on the boards and screens (VIDEO)

I praised Jaxson Hayes for bringing the energy injection off the bench the Lakers needed against a couple of weaker opponents in recent games. In this one, Deandre Ayton brought it from the start.

Ayton did the dirty work expected from a big playing next to Dončić. He set the tone by dominating the offensive glass, keeping the Lakers close by cleaning up early misses while Dončić and the offense were still warming up. Ayton grabbed five of his six offensive rebounds in the first half.

But Ayton’s impact didn’t stop there. He created several open looks for Dončić by setting hard screens, an underrated part of his game given his size and strength. As a side note, the Cavs’ strategy of going under Dončić’s screens, despite him shooting 39% from three in March, was either a flawed game plan or an acceptance of reality. With the way No. 77 is playing, the only way to slow him down might be hoping for an off night from beyond the arc.

Ayton also held his own against Harden and Mitchell, staying in front and contesting pull-ups, a key element of Redick’s switching scheme. He capped it off with 18 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 steal.

4-Jake LaRavia’s long overdue payback for his hustle

LaRavia started his fifth straight game, filling Smart’s role as the primary on-ball defender. LaRavia has had his ups and downs this season, both as a shooter and while being overtaxed in that primary stopper role. Still, Redick praised his progress after the last game, and he was a key part of the effort that led to a rare Mitchell off night.

Benjamin Royer
@thebenroyer
I asked Lakers coach JJ Redick last night about Jake LaRavia’s defensive growth from Day One of 25-26 to now.

“His execution of what we’re trying to do and what his role is, going back to December, has been at such a high level. The coaching staff loves him and we trust him.”

12:43 PM · Mar 31, 2026 · 5.52K Views
1 Reply · 3 Reposts · 25 Likes

One thing that hasn’t wavered in LaRavia’s game is his hustle and effort. And last night, it was finally rewarded with a very solid offensive output as well.

After more than a month without scoring in double figures and not making more than one three in a game, LaRavia hit both of his threes, went a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, scored 14 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, added a steal, and even threw down a poster dunk over Allen.

5-Lakers at their best when the blender is ON

As much as Dončić’s individual brilliance is fun to watch, the Lakers’ offense reaches another gear when there is more pace, movement, and multiple actions that shift the defense by changing the side and angle of attack.

With Dončić, James, Reaves, and even Kennard, the Lakers have multiple threats who can start the “blender” or keep the advantage alive with their drive-and-kick game once it’s on. There were several possessions last night when the Lakers punished the Cavs’ tired legs and their unwillingness to make the third, fourth, or even fifth effort on defense.

It’s worth noting that two of the three possessions I clipped came out of timeouts, where Redick and his staff showcased their X’s and O’s acumen and ability to press different breaking points.

However, in games against the best teams, like the two upcoming matchups with the Thunder, the Lakers will need to incorporate elements of their ATO sets into their regular offense as well, especially the pace and strong-to-weakside attack shifts. The best defenses are too good otherwise, unless Dončić and co. have an outlier shotmaking performance. Which, based on how things have been going lately, is also not out of the realm of possibility.