Starting as the #6 seed, the Los Angeles Lakers have won 4 straight games in a row and 7 of their last 8 to leapfrog the #5 Denver Nuggets and #4 Houston Rockets and take over the #3 seed in the West by a half game.
Tomorrow night, the Lakers begin a 3-game stretch that could catapult them into a 2-game lead for the #3 seed with 13 games left or erase what they’ve accomplished the last 8 games and return them to the #6 seed. The 3-game stretch includes Saturday night home against the #5 Nuggets and Monday and Wednesday on road vs. the #4 Rockets. LA would have tiebreakers and 2-game leads on Denver and Houston if they win all 3.
The win-loss records for the last 10 games for the West’s top 6 teams is a roadmap for how they got where they are. The #1 Thunder went 9–1, #2 Spurs 8–2, #3 Lakers 7–3, #4 Rockets 6–4, #5 Nuggets 5–5, #6 Wolves 6–4.
Right now, the Lakers have suddenly transformed themselves from an offense-first team that could not defend anybody to a legitimate feared and dangerous contender that no NBA team wants to face in the playoffs.
Over the last 8 games, the Lakers’123.3 offensive rating was 2nd best, their 109.8 defensive rating was 7th best, and their +13.5 net rating was 2nd best. Before the last 8 games, the Lakers’ net rating for first 43 games was -0.7.
The Lakers sudden improvement both offensively and defensively has happened so quickly and dramatically that most pundits still question whether the Lakers Top-5 play is sustainable, especially in the playoffs.
For me, the eye test confirms what the numbers say: The Lakers are a Top-5 offensive and defensive team right now. The number don’t lie. The Lakers aren’t the favorites but they’re the team nobody wants to play right now.
REDICK HAS LAKERS COMING TOGETHER AT RIGHT TIME
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Heading into the stretch run, JJ Redick needed to address 4 major issues that were keeping the Lakers from being a contender: morale was down, Big Three wasn’t working, offense was struggling, and defense was poor.
After losing 3 straight games including the last two buzzer beaters, morale on the Lakers was understandably down as most of the roster were on expiring contracts and were worried about their future as an NBA player.
The team was not sharing or taking good enough care of the ball, James had replaced Reaves as 2nd option and was struggling, the Big Three was losing its minutes on the court, and the team’s defense was non-existent.
Redick went to Luka, LeBron, and Austin and challenged them to share the ball to get everyone involved, reduce turnovers, play harder on defense, and take and make more 3’s to transform their offense into a juggernaut.
Over the 8-game stretch, the Lakers completely reversed their season long trend of winning by only the slimmest margins, posting double digit blowouts in 6 of 7 games they won and only losing to Denver by 7 points.
Redick further tweaked the Lakers rotation to create two starting quality lineups: an offensive juggernaut with Luka and Austin as the top two options and a defensive smart zone driven LeBron led backup lineup.
Last night’s game showed JJ Redick has also been successful in convincing LeBron James to become the Lakers’ third option to unleash Austin Reaves. Expect LeBron to play more small ball center to protect him defensively.
Redick’s management of this roster deserve high praise. Every player on the Lakers, even the enigmatic Deandre Ayton, has responded to to JJ’s challenge and leadership and are playing their best basketball of their life.
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