Lakers guard Austin Reaves will be day-to-day after MRI on his right calf revealed no serious injury, sources tell ESPN. His status is uncertain for Sunday against the Clippers, but great development overall after Reaves exited early in Friday's win.— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 2, 2025

Somebody needs to explain to me how that is not an offensive foul on Kawhi cause the refs explanation makes zero sense. pic.twitter.com/MM4xrPcCEB— Matej Sportinfo (@MatejSportinfo) March 1, 2025

League should address this stuff. Just like how Aaron Judge gets ripped the most nearly every year with Strike calls that are really Balls. I like and dislike the challenge rule.

From the above article:

The Lakers have found their leader.

After Mike Brown and Mike D’Antonio, after Byron Scott and Luke Walton, after Frank Vogel and Darvin Ham, they have found their leader.

The revolving door to the coach’s office has finally stopped. JJ Redick is what the Lakers hoped he would be, and maybe even more.

The Lakers improved to 37-21 on Friday night with a 106-102 victory over the Clippers at Imaginary-Money-dot-com Arena, but this isn’t just about their record.

They’re in fourth place in the Western Conference and are positioned to move into second before the end of the regular season, but this isn’t just about their place in the standings.

This is about how they play. This is about culture.

The players are buying what their rookie coach is selling, and, suddenly, the Lakers are playing better defense than any team in the NBA.

Who would have imagined, the Lakers holding their last six opponents to 102 or fewer points in the wake of parting ways with their two best defenders in the Luka Doncic trade.

“That’s just us,” LeBron James said. “I mean, it’s who we are at this point.”

Redick has jolted the Lakers the way Sean McVay did the Rams. Redick has made the Lakers a reflection of his personality the way Jim Harbaugh did with the Chargers.

Almost 60 games into Redick’s first season, the Lakers know who they are, and how often has that been said about them in the post-Phil Jackson years?

There was no guarantee Redick would be any different from Ham or Walton, the two other rookie coaches the Lakers hired in recent years.

Redick’s appointment invited skepticism, and rightly so. Redick wasn’t Dan Hurley, whom the Lakers wanted to hire. Redick had no coaching or management experience above the youth level. He was smug in a way that frauds often are, and he was stuck with basically the same roster that sank Ham. He looked like a Hail Mary.

Well, the Lakers’ prayers were answered, as the pretty-boy coach introduced a hard-nosed, switch-heavy style to a franchise associated with Showtime.

“Defensively is where we hang our hat,” James said. “It’s going to give us a chance to win every night.”

The victory over the Clippers marked a four-day stretch in which the Lakers played three games, each of them a victory. They went into their game against the Clippers without Rui Hachimura, who was sidelined with a knee problem, and emerged from the contest without Austin Reaves, who went down with a calf injury.

The win capped a 10-2 month for the Lakers.

“It’s a tough game to play and to win,” Doncic said. “I think we showed our character today.”

Reaves and Hachimura could be out of the starting lineup for a couple of weeks, perhaps longer, but the win demonstrated how they could survive without them.

“Our group, they competed, they found a way,” Redick said. “It was a rock fight out there.”

The Lakers have the league’s highest-rated defense over the last six weeks or so, and they once again suffocated their opponents on Friday night. Their bench was credited with nine of their 14 steals, including four by Gabe Vincent and three by Jordan Goodwin, who is on a two-way contract.

“It takes a while for a group to develop an identity, takes a while for a group to develop a collective mentality,” Redick said. “There’s been a lot of things that have happened this season. I felt like the group, our ecosystem, was created, and it’s been sustained since mid-January.”

He was particularly pleased with how his players continued to stick with the game plan, which was to slow down James Harden and Kawhi Leonard. Guard Kris Dunn burned them for 14 points in the first half, but the Lakers didn’t waver. Dunn, who made six of seven shots before halftime, eventually slowed down. Harden finished with 18 points on five-for-22 shooting, including one of 10 on threes.

“I like who we are as a team right now,” Redick said.

He’s not alone.

Late in the third quarter, one particular play by the Lakers drew a standing ovation, and it wasn’t a dunk by James or a three by Doncic.

On the sequence in question, Jarred Vanderbilt poked the ball away from Harden and threw himself on the court to recover it.

This is the latest incarnation of Lakers basketball. This is JJ Redick basketball, and it will be around for the foreseeable future.

LAKERS BENCH GETS 'CLIPPERS GAME BALL'Game ball for big win over Clippers has to go to the Lakers' bench, who posted combined +66 plus/minus and totally outplayed the vaunted Clippers' bench, who posted a combined -41 plus/minus – a net difference of 105 for the game.Bench… pic.twitter.com/zTQNWSSZtc— LakerTom (@LakerTom) March 1, 2025

Lakers News: Luka Doncic Credits Second Unit For Win Over Clippers https://t.co/Wi86XsRJB0— LakerTom (@LakerTom) March 1, 2025

Note how consistent Lakers’ offensive, defensive, and net ratings were when you compare the last 30 days with subpar Luka to the last 90 days which included the best 30 days of super AD.Lakers made blockbuster trade without just the 2-game brain fart interrupting their on court…— LakerTom (@LakerTom) March 1, 2025

“Our ecosystem was created and it's been sustained since January.”Coach Redick. #LakeShowHe turned the entire culture, the expectations, and became my favorite coach of all time. The underdog story of having no experience to being one of the better coaches out there. Love it. pic.twitter.com/AmtjQUv5bv— 🎗NBA•Fan🎗 (@Klutch_23) March 1, 2025

LAKERS DEFRTG LAST 6 GAMES WAS 102.4Lakers continue to get better and better defensively. Once Luka starts shooting like himself, the Lakers offense will start to turn those 10 point solid wins into easy blowouts.JJ Redick may be a rookie head coach but he has done a fabulous… https://t.co/mWbofNwzwt pic.twitter.com/OjjcBEAvSn— LakerTom (@LakerTom) March 1, 2025

BREAKING: JJ Redick says Jordan Goodwin will be part of the Lakers rotation moving forward

They need to cut someone in order to sign him for rest of year so he can join playoffs 👀 pic.twitter.com/hnGhqhetby

— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) March 1, 2025