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Tag: lakers

  • Lakers Expect Luka Dončić, LeBron James Healthy vs Clippers

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    The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to be fully healthy against their game against the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 20, the first game after the break

    As the Los Angeles Lakers return from the All-Star break, the team expects to be fully healthy, which hasn’t been the case for most of the season. Guard Luka Dončić, Guard Austin Reaves and forward LeBron James have only played 10 games together this season.

    James missed the start of the season due to sciatica, but has played in most games since he returned Nov. 18, outside of three instances where he sat for the second game of a back-to-back. He is expected to play in the first game after the break.

    Dončić — the NBA’s leading scorer average 32.8 PPH and third-ranked in MVP rankings — has been out with a left hamstring strain since Feb. 5. Lakers Head Coach JJ Redick said he expects Dončić to be available. Dončić played for five minutes for Team World in the NBA All-Star game on Feb. 15.

    “I was on minutes restriction,” Dončić said. “It was definitely good to get up and down a little bit [at practice] after having a week off.”

    Reaves was out for five weeks from Dec. 25 through Feb. 3 with a calf injury. In the five games Reaves has played since being back, he’s been on a minute restriction, but Redick said he will no longer be a restriction after the break.

    Up until Reaves injured his calf, he was the ninth-leading scorer in the NBA average 27.8 PPG.

    “It’s funny, we were talking before the season about building continuity with those three guys, and we’ve had them available together for 10 games,” Redick said. “It’s just the situation we’re in. We’re not the only team that has had a bunch of health issues throughout the season and had to manage that, but my message to the players this morning was that this is going to be a sprint for these last 28 games.”

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    Center Deandre Ayton sat the final two games before the break with right knee soreness, but is expected to be back after the break.

    The Lakers are in fifth place in the Western Conference at 33-21, and their next game is tomorrow against the Los Angeles Clippers at Crypto.com Arena.

    “You can tell throughout the season, even with the unfortunate injuries, we’ve done a good job maintaining it,” Reaves said. “We’re on pace for a good record, and getting healthy is going to help that. It’ll be fun to see what that looks like.”

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    Tony Gleason

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  • Lakers Center Deandre Ayton Allegedly Arrested in the Bahamas – LAmag

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    The basketball star was detained for the possession of marijuana and released shortly after

    Los Angeles Lakers Center Deandre Ayton was allegedly arrested at the Lynden Pindling International Airport in the Bahamas on Tuesday for possession of a small amount of Marijuana, according to Reuters. The basketball star was reportedly detained for a short time before being released by authorities. 

    Ayton, a native of the Bahamas, was flying out of the country at the time of his arrest. Although the country is currently making moves to legalize marijuana for medical purposes, the drug currently remains illegal.

    “Our goal is to protect the health of the public while providing access to cannabis for those who truly need it,” a government website for the initiative states.

    Ayton moved from the Bahamas to San Diego to play high school basketball. He was considered one of the top prospects for recruitment in 2017, with ESPN ranking the center No. 3. Ayton went on to play for the University of Arizona, where he remained until being drafted by the Phoenix Suns in 2018.

    On July 6, 2025, Ayton signed a two-year, $16.6 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, after a buyout negotiation with the Portland Trail Blazers.

    In December of last year, the Ayton was announced to be the NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award winner for November. He was recognized for his efforts in aiding Jamaica during Hurricane Melissa through his work with the Ayton Family Foundation. 

    Ayton missed his second consecutive game with the Lakers on Thursday due to knee soreness, according to ESPN.

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    The Lakers star’s current whereabouts are unknown.

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    Taylor Parise

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  • Chris Paul Announces Retirement After 21 NBA Seasons

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    After 21 seasons in the NBA, point guard Chris Paul announced his retirement today on his personal Instagram

    After 21 seasons in the NBA, point guard Chris Paul announced he is retiring on his personal Instagram. This announcement comes after the Toronto Raptors traded for Paul on Feb. 5, but then waived him today without Paul ever playing a game for them.

    Paul is a 12-time All-Star and was an 11-time All-NBA player who played for the New Orleans Hornets, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs.

    “Mostly, I’m filled with so much joy and gratitude!” Paul wrote. “While this chapter of being an “NBA player” is done, the game of basketball will forever be ingrained in the DNA of my life. I’ve been in the NBA for more than half of my life, spanning three decades. It’s crazy even saying that!!”

    Across Paul’s NBA career, he has averaged 16.6 PPG, 9.2 APG and 4.4 RPG in 1,370 games. With his retirement, Paul ranks fourth in points for a point guard with 23,058 points, second all-time in assists with 12,552 and second all-time in steals with 2,728.

    The New Orleans Hornets — now the Pelicans — drafted Paul out of Wake Forest University with the fourth overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft. Paul would then go on to make his debut in the NBA with them on Nov. 1, 2005, where he had 13 points, four assists and eight rebounds in 33 minutes. Paul won Rookie of the Year in the 2005-06 season, earning 124 of the 125 first-place votes.

    The 2007-08 season was Paul’s breakout season, where he was an all-star for the first time in his career and won his first of five assists titles, averaging 11.6 APG. He was also the runner-up in MVP voting that year, receiving 28 first-place votes, but losing the award to Lakers guard Kobe Bryant.

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    The Hornets intended to trade Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 11, 2011, but the NBA — which owned the Hornets at the time — nullified the trade. Three days later, though, the Hornets traded Paul to the Clippers in exchange for three players and first round pick.

    When news of this trade broke, Clippers forward Blake Griffin was caught saying, “It’s going to be Lob City” to his team center DeAndre Jordan. This stuck with the team as the three of them formed the “Lob City” Clippers, who would make the playoffs six years in a row, but failed to make it past the Western Conference Semi-Finals.

    Across Paul’s six seasons with the Clippers, he averaged 18.8 PPG, 9.8 APG and 4.2 RPG, as Paul was in the top seven in MVP during his first five seasons in LA, was All-NBA First Team, and led the league in steals his first three years and led the league in assists during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.

    After the 2016-17 season, the Clippers traded Paul to the Rockets, where he teamed up with guard James Harden, who would go on to win the MVP in the 2017-18 season. The two led Houston to an NBA-leading 65-17 record and made it to the Conference Finals — the first of Paul’s career — but Paul would injure his hamstring in game 5, as the Rockets would go on to lose in seven to the Warriors.

    After one more season in Houston, the Rockers traded Paul to the Thunder, where he would play for one season, before they traded Paul to the Suns for the 2020-21 season. In his first year in Phoenix, Paul averaged 16.4 PPG, 8.9 APG and RPG — good for fifth in MVP voting — as he helped lead Phoenix to the NBA finals. The Suns would start the series up 2-0 to the Milwaukee Bucks, but lost the next four games, losing the series in six. Paul averaged 21.8 PPG, 8.2 APG and 2.7 RPG in the series.

    Paul would go on to play two more seasons with the Suns, then one with the Warriors and Spurs and before he signed with the Lakers on July 21. He played in 16 games in his return to the Clippers before they parted ways with Paul on Dec. 3. He played his final NBA game Dec. 1 against the Miami Heat, where he played for 14 minutes.

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    Tony Gleason

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  • Lakers Stars Expected to Return in Game Against Mavericks – LAmag

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    Forward LeBron James, among other players, are expected to return in tonights game against the Dallas Mavericks after sitting for the Feb. 10 game against the San Antonio Spurs

    The Los Angeles Lakers are taking on the Dallas Mavericks tonight at Crypto.com Arena at 7 p.m. During the Lakers’ most recent game — their Feb. 10 136-108 loss against the San Antonio Spurs — Los Angeles sat their entire regular starting lineup.

    For tonight’s game, the only players on the injury report are center Deandre Ayton, who is questionable due to right knee soreness, and guard Luka Dončić, who has been out since Feb. 5 with a left hamstring strain.

    The Lakers have beaten the Mavericks twice this season. Their first victory was a 129-119 win on Nov. 28, and the second was a 116-110 win on Jan. 24.

    Ahead of the game against the Spurs, Dončić, forward LeBron James, guard Austin Reaves and guard Marcus Smart were listed as out on the injury report for various reasons. After James sat out Feb. 10, it is no longer possible for James to meet the 65-game minimum for him to be eligible for postseason awards, ending his 21-year long streak.

    After the Lakers lost, ESPN TV personality Stephen A. Smith was critical of the Lakers’ decision not to play their everyday starters.

    “Work it out,” Smith said. “If you got LeBron James off, make sure somebody else is playing. If you got Austin Reaves off, make sure somebody else is playing,” he continued. “But then everybody? That is disrespectful and insensitive and dismissive to the fans. And somebody needs to say it.”

    For tonight’s game, the Mavericks have a handful of players on the injury report, as star-rookie forward Cooper Flagg has a left midfoot sprain that will keep him out of action through the All-Star break, with three other players listed as doubtful and two more listed as questionable.

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    Tony Gleason

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  • Luka Doncic scores 46 points as the Lakers beat the Bulls 129-118

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    Luka Doncic had 46 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers cooled off the Chicago Bulls with a 129-118 victory on Monday night.

    LeBron James scored 20 of his 24 points in the first half as Los Angeles improved to 3-1 on an eight-game trip. Rui Hachimura added 23 points on 9-for-11 shooting.

    The Lakers were swept by Chicago in their two-game series last season, including a wild 119-117 loss at the United Center on Josh Giddey’s half-court shot at the buzzer.

    Coby White scored 23 points for Chicago on Monday night, and Ayo Dosunmu had 20. The Bulls had won four in a row and five of six overall.

    Chicago went 18 for 49 from 3-point range. It has made at least 17 3s in its last five games.

    Los Angeles led by as many as 20 points, but Chicago closed to 81-80 on Nikola Vucevic’s two foul shots with 6:42 left in the third quarter.

    But Marcus Smart responded with a three-point play for the Lakers. Doncic then made two free throws and Hachimura connected from deep to make it 89-80 with 4:38 left.

    Doncic made a 3 and another foul shot to lift Los Angeles to a 104-89 lead going into the fourth. Doncic scored 20 points in the third on 6-for-9 shooting.

    The Lakers shot 56% (46 for 82) from the field, including a 16-for-33 performance from 3-point range.

    The Bulls had six players score in double figures. Vucevic had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Giddey finished with 19 points.

    Los Angeles moved in front with a 25-6 run that started late in the first quarter and carried over to the second. James’ fast-break jam made it 51-37 with 7:19 left.

    The Bulls closed the first half with a 7-0 spurt, trimming the Lakers’ lead to 69-56. Doncic had 17 points and eight assists in the first half.

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    Associate Press

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  • LeBron James on Jeanie Buss report: ‘Don’t care how somebody feels about me’

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    INGLEWOOD — LeBron James dismissed any notion that there is friction between him and Lakers governor Jeanie Buss, which was cited in an ESPN story this week on the Buss family drama and how it led to the team being sold to Mark Walter.

    According to the report, Jeanie Buss soured on James after the Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook in 2021, a move the team made to satisfy the superstar but one that backfired. Buss reportedly was upset with the way James dismissed his part in pursuing Westbrook and blamed others after the move failed, according to ESPN.

    The relationship further deteriorated after Buss reportedly felt that James wasn’t appreciative of the team’s efforts to bring his son, Bronny, on board, according to the report.

    “Quite frankly, I don’t really get involved in that, or the reports, or whatever the case may be,” James said after Thursday night’s loss to the Clippers at the Intuit Dome. “I’ve seen a lot of it, obviously, but I don’t really care about the reports, to be honest. … (there’s) gonna be another article tomorrow, especially involving me.”

    James, who has been with the Lakers for eight seasons, said when he arrived in L.A. in 2018 his mindset was to help restore a level of excellence to the Lakers, who had not won a title since 2010. He then led the team to the 2020 NBA championship, the franchise’s 17th.

    “My whole mindset was like, how can I get that feeling back to the Lakers organization,” he said. “And then I was able to do that along with, you know, 14, 16, other guys winning the championship, bringing the championship here. That’s always been my mindset.”

    James said winning, not headlines, stories or podcasts, is what drives him, now in his unprecedented 23rd NBA season.

    “They don’t bother me. I’m 41 years old, and I watch golf every day. I don’t care about an article,” James said. “I don’t care how somebody feels about me. If you know me personally and you know what I’m about, these guys know what I’m about, and that’s all that matters. I don’t – I can care less how somebody feels about me.”

    James said he thought he and Buss had an amicable relationship, so the news that she was upset caught him off guard.

    “I thought it was good, but, you know, somebody could see it another way,” James said. “There’s always two sides to the coin.

    “How I represented this franchise, and what I wanted to do to represent this franchise from when I got here until now, has been with the utmost respect and honor and dignity. And I would say loyalty.”

    James added that he has not spoken to Buss since the story was published but said he has never had the type of relationship with a team owner where he would talk one-on-one very often. That includes Dan Gilbert in Cleveland and Mickey Arison in Miami.

    Buss issued a statement to The Athletic on Wednesday, addressing ESPN’s story.

    “It’s really not right, given all the great things LeBron has done for the Lakers, that he has to be pulled into my family drama,” she said. “To say that it wasn’t appreciated is just not true and completely unfair to him.”

    Buss also changed the image on her Instagram profile to a photo of her and James embracing after the 2020 championship win.

    The ESPN story also surprised James, who said he never heard about it before it was published.

    “Don’t make something out of it that it’s not,” he said. “It’s always been mutual. It’s always been respect, it’s always been a great partnership … don’t make this more than what it is. I don’t care.”

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    Janis Carr

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  • Luka Doncic, LeBron James lead Lakers past Grizzlies to kick off 2026

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Lakers star Luka Doncic, left, shoots as Memphis Grizzlies forward GG Jackson defends during the second half on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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LOS ANGELES — Oftentimes, when his team is going through a rough patch in the season, Lakers coach JJ Redick references the popular line from Jay-Z’s “A Week Ago” when Jay-Z rapped, “It was all good just a week ago.”

But that sentiment hadn’t been uttered by Redick recently going into Friday’s home game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Because a week ago, the Lakers were coming off their season-worst three-game losing streak. And even though they were coming off back-to-back wins a week before that, those victories came after they dropped three of their previous five games.

But Redick made it clear that this stretch of struggles didn’t feel different than others. And that there was still a belief and care within the locker room, which the Lakers showed in their 128-121 victory over the Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena, kicking off a new year and a two-game set against Memphis.

Because each time the Grizzlies pushed the Lakers, they pushed back, led by high-scoring performances from Luka Doncic and LeBron James, with the duo dominating the fourth quarter.

“We have a lot of people that close the game, especially [me],” Doncic said. “LeBron, he took over. [Jarred Vanderbilt] hit a big shot. Jake [LaRavia] hit a big shot. Jaxson [Hayes] had a big dunk. It’s just everybody.”

Doncic had 34 points (going 17 for 20 at the free-throw line), eight assists and six rebounds, while James recorded 31 points (12-of-18 shooting), nine rebounds and six assists.

“It was just playing and playing in rhythm,” James said. “We’re trying to find ways that we can be productive. Obviously, Luka did a great job of getting to the free-throw line. Also mixing in a couple middies. He made a step-back 3, a big-time shot there. Myself, just trying to sprinkle in a little bit here, a little bit there. Just trying to be consistent and be super efficient with my play. So we worked well off each other and we led the group.”

Jake LaRavia added 21 points, nine rebounds and two assists – his first 20-point game since Nov. 2. He scored 18 points in the first half and 11 in the opening quarter.

“It started with Jake, he was locked in from the beginning,” James said. “Marcus [Smart] on both ends of the floor, obviously taking the challenge of guarding Ja [Morant]. Those two guys set the tone for us. We needed it.”

The Lakers (21-11) maintained a perfect 11-0 record in games that featured clutch minutes – when the score is within five points in the final five minutes – after going on a 12-2 run to take a 121-112 lead when James made a layup with 1:57 left.

They’re the only team in the league that hasn’t lost a game featuring clutch minutes.

Jaren Jackson Jr., who battled foul trouble throughout the game, had 25 points to lead the Grizzlies, who will face the Lakers again on Sunday night. Former Laker Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 20 points (4 for 6 from 3-point range) and five rebounds off the bench. Morant had 16 points and 11 assists coming off his 40-point game in an overtime loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday.

The Grizzlies were missing six players, including center Zach Edey.

Smart added 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers, while Hayes scored 12.

“We say it all the time: [energy and effort is] very helpful and it’s very contagious,” Smart said. “It’s contagious whether it’s negative or positive. We’ve had games where the urgency wasn’t there, and that trickled down the line. And you see games like [Friday] where it trickles up the line. Just understanding that for us we have to come out and we have to be positive and we have to be contagious so that energy can flow.”

Vanderbilt (five points) made a corner 3-pointer to put the Lakers ahead 116-110 with 4:13 remaining. He’s made a 3-pointer in eight consecutive games, which is the longest streak of his NBA career, and he is 11 for 21 from behind the arc since reentering the rotation in the Dec. 14 road win against the Phoenix Suns after opening the season just 4 for 15 from 3-point range.

“Obviously, we need his athleticism,” James said. “We need the way he can guard multiple positions. So it’s very key that he’s back in the lineup and we love that. But we also need him to knock down a corner shot occasionally when teams are not going to guard him. They kind of disrespect him over there – not even contesting his shots – and he’s put a lot of work in it every day at practice, just shooting that same shot.”

James added: “He’s not hesitating. He’s just shooting it. No matter if he misses one or misses two in a row, he’s just shooting the next and and that was a big-time 3.”

The Lakers had a 39-31 lead going into the second quarter for their second advantage after the opening quarter in the last month.

They also held a 66-60 lead going into halftime despite squandering a 55-40 lead when the Grizzlies scored 18 unanswered points.

Doncic, James and LaRavia each scored in the final 2½ minutes of the second quarter to help the Lakers regain the lead before halftime.

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Khobi Price

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  • Lakers rookie Adou Thiero to miss at least 4 weeks with MCL sprain

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    Lakers rookie Adou Thiero will be sidelined for at least one month because of a right knee injury.

    The team announced on Wednesday night that Thiero was diagnosed with a right MCL sprain and will be re-evaluated in about four weeks.

    It was unclear at the time of the Lakers’ announcement how and when Theiro suffered the injury. The 6-foot-7 forward played in the team’s past six games, including three fourth-quarter minutes in Tuesday night’s home loss to the Detroit Pistons, and 15 of their last 18 games.

    The Lakers selected Thiero out of Arkansas with the No. 36 pick in June’s NBA draft after moving up twice to acquire the pick to select him.

    Thiero was a modified participant in practices during the preseason and to start the regular season because of swelling in his left knee.

    Thiero had surgery on his left knee before the Lakers drafted him.

    He was averaging 1.3 points and 1.2 rebounds while shooting 38.9% from the field in 5.8 minutes per game.

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    Khobi Price

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  • Lakers get preferred starting lineup back in Christmas clash with Rockets

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    LOS ANGELES —  For the first time in a couple of weeks, the Lakers started their preferred first unit in Thursday’s Christmas Day matchup against the Houston Rockets.

    With Luka Doncic and Rui Hachimura back in the lineup after being sidelined because of a lower left leg contusion and right groin injury management, respectively, the Lakers were as close to fully healthy as they’ve been since the Dec. 10 NBA Cup quarterfinal home loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

    Doncic and Hachimura started alongside Austin Reaves, LeBron James and Deandre Ayton on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena.

    Reaves moved back into the first unit after coming off the bench in his return from a minor calf injury in Tuesday’s road loss to the Phoenix Suns.

    “In a perfect world, it gives you just sort of a normal flow in terms of your offensive optionality,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said of the starting lineup. “We still got to monitor AR (Reaves) a little bit with some of his minutes and workload. It’s not that he’s like on a minutes restriction, but we still got to be smart with him because of the nature of his injury versus Rui and Luka’s.”

    The Lakers have started the Doncic-Reaves-James-Hachimura-Ayton lineup only seven times, with James missing the first seven games of the season because of sciatica, and every starter missing multiple games since James’ season debut in the Nov. 18 home win over the Utah Jazz.

    The Lakers were still without two rotation players in reserve big man Jaxson Hayes (left ankle soreness) and Gabe Vincent (lumbar back strain).

    Redick feels the the inconsistent player availability had impacted the team’s ability to hone in its defensive identity.

    The Lakers entered Saturday with the No. 28 defensive rating (third worst) across the league since Nov. 23.

    “It’s hard to judge,” Redick said. “You asked the other night about that being a factor in trying to execute what your schemes are defensively and not having that continuity. That’s part of. It’s the modern NBA where there’s injuries and then there’s not a lot of ton of time to practice. When you have continuity, you can kind of capture what you’re trying to do and you feel comfortable and good about it.

    “The thought I had was this stretch has been like eerily reminiscent of last March for us, where I  thought we were playing really good basketball – we still were getting better – but then injuries, then we are playing different lineups. Guys were playing on two-ways a lot and you just don’t seem to have that kind of consistency with what we’re trying to do.”

    FINNEY-SMITH BACK

    Former Laker Dorian Finney-Smith made his Rockets debut Thursday after missing Houston’s first 27 games while recovering from offseason ankle surgery.

    Finney-Smith, 32, arrived in Los Angeles via trade from the Brooklyn Nets in December 2024.

    He averaged 7.9 points (44.2% shooting overall; 39.8% from 3-point range), 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 28.8 minutes (43 games) with the Lakers, with his impact often not fully being captured by a box score.

    The Lakers were 18-13 before trading for Finney-Smith and went 29-14 in the 43 regular-season games in which he played.

    Finney-Smith signed a four-year, $53 million contract with the Rockets in free agency after declining his $15.4 million player option for 2025-26.

    “Everybody knows how fondly we feel about Doe,” Redick said. “A number of us, whether it was me being his teammate or [assistant coach] Greg [St. Jean] coaching him prior in Dallas, we knew what we were getting with him.

    “And he didn’t disappoint in terms of just being a warrior every single night and doing whatever is required to help win. He’s a player who drives winning without having to take 15 shots or have the ball in his hands.”

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    Khobi Price

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  • Lakers hope to get Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton back soon

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    INGLEWOOD — The Lakers were without three of their normal starters for Saturday night’s road game against the Clippers, but they hope to have two of them back in the lineup as soon as Tuesday’s matchup against the Phoenix Suns in Arizona.

    Starting guard Austin Reaves (left calf strain), center Deandre Ayton (left elbow soreness) and forward Rui Hachimura (right groin soreness) were all unavailable on Saturday night.

    Reserve guard Gabe Vincent also missed his second game because of lower back tightness.

    Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia and Jaxson Hayes started alongside Luka Doncic and LeBron James for the Lakers on Saturday in light of the injuries.

    Coach JJ Redick said the hope is for Reaves and Ayton to be available against the Suns, while the team is hoping Hachimura’s ailment will only keep him sidelined for 3-5 days.

    After their matchup against the Suns, the Lakers will host the Houston Rockets on Thursday in a Christmas Day matchup.

    Reaves’ absence on Saturday was the third consecutive game he missed because of the calf ailment, while Ayton has missed a pair of games.

    Ayton suffered his injury after getting tangled up with Suns center Mark Williams during last Sunday’s road win in Phoenix.

    Redick also acknowledged the uncertainty of the timelines for when players might return.

    “I never know with these guys, I never know,” he said. “It’s hard to commit to timelines here. A guy wakes up and says, ‘Ah, something’s wrong with me.’ That’s, we got to deal with it. I don’t know, but we hope to have them back soon.

    “D.A., Austin, progressing. Hope to have them back soon and then Rui, it’s a new issue that popped up post-Utah game and we’re targeting, or we’re saying it’s 3-5 days.”

    IMPACT ON MARGINS

    In his previous two games since being back in the rotation, forward Jarred Vanderbilt grabbed 18 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive glass, in 40 minutes.

    Vanderbilt acknowledged his presence on the glass has been a priority since playing regular minutes again.

    “That’s something I can bring to the table every single night, especially some games (when) we’re not shooting well,” Vanderbilt said. “So it’s a lot more opportunities for offensive rebounds. We’re trying to win that possession battle. If we’re not having a great shooting night, I think having multiple efforts and being able to get more opportunities up on the glass and offensive rebound is gonna just better our chances.”

    Vanderbilt’s presence has helped the Lakers have two of their best offensive rebounding games of the season as they focus on winning the margins they typically struggle with.

    Despite the ways teams defend Vanderbilt, having the player defending him sag off into the paint and clog up driving/passing lanes, the Lakers have a similar offensive rating (points scored per 100 possessions) with Vanderbilt on the court (118.9) versus when he’s off the court (120.6), according to Cleaning The Glass.

    “Over the last couple of games, it’s been the second-effort stuff, the offensive rebounds, giving us more opportunities to score, being decisive when he does get the ball,” Redick said. “We’ve got to play a little bit differently. Post facing, using him as a passer.

    “But I do think we’ve had a number of defense-to-offense plays with him on the floor and with that group that started the second and fourth quarter of the last couple of games. And that’s really helped the offense without having to run a play and all that stuff.”

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    Khobi Price

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  • Lakers Eliminated From NBA Cup After 132–119 Loss to Spurs

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    Center Victor Wembanyama missed the Lakers game with an injury despite the Spurs victory

    The Lakers are eliminated from the NBA Cup quarterfinal.

    But despite the loss, forward and future NBA Hall of Famer LeBron James doesn’t want to look ahead to what the defeat implies about the playoffs.

    “I can’t think about what we can do in the playoffs in December. What I can say is that the habits that we built throughout the regular season each month, if we are in a position to make it to the postseason and be able to get to that point, well, we have to build it now. But as far as talking about what type of damage we’re gonna do in the postseason in December, that’s not right for the basketball gods, not for me,” James said.

    A first-quarter lead the San Antonio Spurs built proved to be insurmountable for the Los Angeles Lakers as the squad fell 132-119 on Wednesday in San Antonio at the Frost Bank Center. The Spurs finished the first up nine, the half up 12, and the third quarter up 17 – with the largest lead culminating at 24 – resulting in the Spurs’ 13-point win.

    The San Antonio Spurs’ victory was particularly notable considering the squad was without center Victor Wembanyama, who is averaging 26.2 points, 11 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks per game on a 47.3% field goal percentage through 12 games of the 2025-2026 campaign.

    In his place, guard and reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle paced the Spurs with 30 points while shooting 10-for-14 from the field and 50% from beyond the arc.

    Three of the Spurs’ starters garnered double-digits, with backcourt tandem De’Aaron Fox ranking second on the team in points with 20, including knocking down four 3-pointers.

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    On the other side of the hardwood, guard Luka Dončić paced the team with 35 points, his ninth straight 30-plus point performance of the season. James followed behind Dončić with 19 points while shooting 50% from the field, continuing to illustrate that he has gas in the tank after a string of struggling performances.

    The most notable difference between the two teams came down to contributions from the bench. The Spurs reserves outscored the Lakers 48-31 from the bench, with guard Marcus Smart adding 26 of the Lakers’ 31 from the pine. Smart’s performance marked his first game back from injury, illustrating a key backcourt addition the Lakers have in their reserves.

    Meanwhile, the Spurs posted three double-digit scorers from the bench, including Keldon Johnson, Dylan Harper, and Julian Champagnie.

    After the defeat, the Lakers will embark on a four-game road trip that will start in Phoenix on Sunday and end again against the Suns on December 23rd.

    The Lakers are 17-7 in the NBA’s Western Conference and sit in fourth in the conference, 6.5 games back from the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder.

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    Connor Dullinger

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  • Lakers Get Marcus Smart Back for Critical NBA Cup Quarterfinal

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    Back from a lumbar strain, Smart’s return boosts L.A.’s defense heading into a high-stakes matchup with the Spurs

    Guard Marcus Smart returned to full practice Tuesday, ending a six-game absence due to a left lumbar strain, and signaled that he expects to suit up for Wednesday’s NBA Cup quarterfinal against San Antonio.

    “Back’s feeling good,” Smart said after practice. “Felt good in practice today. So we did some tests, passed the tests. We’re going to give it a shot tomorrow. See how it feels.” (ABC7)

    Smart’s presence could be significant. This season, he has averaged 9.3 points, 2.9 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals — contributions that, when combined with his defensive instincts, can shift momentum in a tight Cup game.

    The Lakers return to action knowing the stakes are high. A win pushes them into the semifinals in Las Vegas and keeps their Cup hopes alive. Tough competition awaits; San Antonio may welcome back star center Victor Wembanyama, a formidable presence when healthy.

    L.A. coach JJ Redick emphasized defense in practice, especially preparation for Wembanyama’s size and skill set. He called the matchup “a challenge” and said the team must “make everything uncomfortable” defensively.

    With Smart back and the defense sharpened, the Lakers aim to reclaim momentum. For Smart, the comeback is about more than just minutes; it’s about setting the tone. For the team, it’s an opportunity to prove they can compete under pressure when it matters most.

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    Anthony Gutierrez

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  • Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic lead Lakers past Mavericks in NBA Cup group-play finale

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    LOS ANGELES — The familiar faces on the court at Crypto.com Arena, and what will be a long-lasting connection between the Lakers and Dallas Mavericks, didn’t take away from the spirit of competition.

    Because even with Anthony Davis playing his first road game against his former team since the trade that sent him to Dallas and brought Luka Doncic to Los Angeles, with the fans cheering for Davis as he was introduced during the Mavericks’ starting lineup introductions, it didn’t take the Lakers’ eyes off of the prize for what was at stake on Friday night.

    And with their 129-119 victory over the Mavericks, the Lakers secured home-court advantage for their NBA Cup quarterfinal matchup after finishing 4-0 atop West Group B.

    They will host the San Antonio Spurs in the knockout round on Dec. 10 with top-seeded Oklahoma City to face Phoenix in the other Western Conference game.

    The Lakers (14-4) also extended their winning streak to six games, their season-best mark after topping their five-game win streak that ran from Oct. 29-Nov. 5.

    Austin Reaves (38 points, eight rebounds and three assists) and Luka Doncic (35 points, 11 assists and five rebounds) led the Lakers on Friday night, balancing each other’s strong offensive quarters to help their team secure the victory.

    LeBron James added 13 points, seven assists and five rebounds in a game in which all five Lakers starters scored in double figures.

    Deandre Ayton finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocked shots, while Rui Hachimura had 14 points and four rebounds, knocking down four second-half 3-pointers.

    Davis finished with 12 points, five rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots in 28 minutes against his former team.

    PJ Washington had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead the Mavericks. Ryan Nembhard scored 17 for Dallas, while Max Christie added 13 points against his former team. Rookie Cooper Flagg had 13 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, but the Mavericks lost for the fifth time in six games.

    Doncic was rolling early, scoring 10 first-quarter points, while Reaves had 14 second-quarter points, with Reaves having 19 points and five rebounds at halftime, while Doncic had 18 points and four assists.

    But the Mavericks led 62-60 at halftime because of 12 second-chance points in the first half and their advantage in the possession battle.

    The Lakers outscored the Mavericks 69-57 in the second half, with the starters combining for all but two of those points in the final two quarters.

    Dallas had a narrow lead with less than eight minutes to play, but the Lakers held the Mavs without a field goal for nearly four minutes while making a 13-1 run that included big baskets from Reaves and Ayton.

    Reaves and Doncic both received “M-V-P!” chants from fans during separate trips to the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

    More to come on this story.

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    Khobi Price

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  • Lakers Look to Rebound vs. Injury-Depleted Pelicans on Road Trip

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    The Pelicans sit at last place in the Western Conference and the Lakers have lost two of its last three

    The Lakers can get back in the win column on Friday.

    After losing two out of its last three – despite starting the season 7-2 – the Los Angeles Lakers will face the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, for the Lakers’ fourth game of their five-game road trip.

    The Lake Show is coming off a 29-point defeat to the reigning NBA champions Oklahoma City Thunder.

    The Pelicans are 2-9 on the season and sit in last place in the Western Conference. The New Orleans squad started the season on a six-game losing streak, before winning back-to-back contests, but has since lost three in a row, riding into the affair against the Lakers.

    After a series of injuries, the Lakers are almost back to full strength. Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves are back in the lineup, but Gabe Vincent, Adou Thiero, and LeBron James remain sidelined due to injury.

    James has yet to play a game this season as sciatica on the right side has kept him from game action, but his return is on the horizon.

    But the Lakers are no the only team without one of its star players. The Pelicans are without three of their top players for Friday’s contest, including two of their top three scorers. Forward – and former No. 1 overall pick –  Zion Williamson is out with a hamstring injury but leads the Pelicans in scoring and assists and ties for the team lead in rebounds.

    Williamson has only played five games this season but is averaging 22.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.

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    Guard Jordan Poole, the team’s third leading scorer, is out with a left quadriceps strain, but was averaging 17.3 points and 3.4 assists per game on a 38.6% shooting percentage from beyond the arc.

    The last Pelican to miss the Lakers contest is guard Dejounte Murray, who has missed the entirety of the season with an Achilles injury and will not return until at least after New Years.

    With the absence of Murray, Williamson, and Poole, forward Trey Murphy III has taken over the bulk of the scoring.

    The 2021 First Round pick is averaging 18.1 points and 3.7 assists per game while also tying Williamson for the team lead in rebounds.

    Murphy leads a tandem of rookies on the Pelicans’ hardwood. 2025 First Round pick duo guard Jeremiah Fears and center Derik Queen. 

    Fears has solidified his starting spot in the backcourt and has averaged 14 points per game on a 37% shooting split from beyond the arc. However, Fears has struggled with his overall shooting efficiency, maintaining just a 39.2% field goal percentage. 

    Similarly, Queen has been a solid replacement with Williamson out with injury, joining center Kevon Looney in the frontcourt. Queen is averaging 10.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per contest despite playing just 21.5 minutes per game.

    The former Maryland star has shown the ability to dominate in the interior with his length, touch and footwork around the rim, and diverse offensive skillset to boast a 52.5% field goal percentage.

    Guard Saddiq Bey has stepped in to fill the holes in the Pelicans’ roster with all of the team’s injuries.

    Bey – despite being listed as a guard – stands at 6-foot-8 and has been able to play guard, wing, or stretch four in the Pelicans rotation and has started since the departure of Williamson.

    Bey is averaging 12.6 points per game on a 40.4% 3-point percentage and has also attacked the boards, grabbing 4.4 rebounds per game.

    With all of the injuries on the Pelicans roster, its depth will need to step up against the Lakers in its home game, where tip-off will commence at 5 p.m.

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    Connor Dullinger

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  • Lakers dominated by league-leading Thunder

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    OKLAHOMA CITY — The Lakers were well aware of the challenge that stood in front of them with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.

    The defending NBA champions, who had the league’s best defense last season, have expanded the gap between themselves and the rest of the NBA on that end of the court despite All-NBA/All-Defense wing Jalen Williams being sidelined to start the season and All-Defense forward Lu Dort missing six of the past seven games.

    The Lakers knew they had to be decisive against a Thunder team that doesn’t concede many advantages. Wait too long, and those openings are no longer available. Wait even longer, and the Thunder, the league’s second-best team at forcing turnovers, would weaponize the Lakers’ indecision or stagnation with transition scoring.

    And that’s even before mentioning Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning league MVP.

    Even with knowing the challenges the Thunder present, the Lakers didn’t have answers for any of them, dropping Wednesday’s road game, 121-92, at Paycom Center.

    The league-best Thunder (12-1) dominated the Lakers (8-4) from the outset.

    The Lakers were led by Luka Doncic’s 19 points, seven rebounds and seven rebounds, but he shot 7 for 20 from the field (1 for 7 from 3-point range) and committed four of the team’s 20 turnovers.

    The Thunder scored 26 points off of the Lakers’ giveaways.

    Austin Reaves (13 points, five rebounds, three assists) also struggled with his ball security, recording five giveaways against Oklahoma City’s swarming ball pressure and physicality.

    After the Lakers grabbed an early 7-2 lead following a 3-pointer from Rui Hachimura (13 points, five rebounds), the Thunder took control of the game and never let go.

    Oklahoma City outscored the Lakers 28-11 in the final 9½ minutes of the opening quarter, taking a 30-18 lead into the second. The Lakers had nearly as many turnovers (six) as made shots (eight) in the first.

    The Lakers missed their first nine shots in the opening 8-plus minutes of the second quarter, and also turned the ball over four times in that span, before Marcus Smart (nine points on 1-of-5 shooting) ended the shooting drought with a pull-up 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring, which cut the Lakers’ deficit to 56-29.

    The Lakers trailed 70-38 at halftime, the fourth-largest midgame deficit in franchise history according to Stathead.

    And the Thunder didn’t ease up, leading by as many as 37 points in the third quarter (91-54) and by at least 25 for the entire second half.

    Lakers coach JJ Redick took his main rotation players out at the 8:18 mark of the fourth, with his team trailing 108-73.

    Dalton Knecht had 16 points off the bench, with all of his scoring coming in the second half when the game was essentially already decided.

    Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting, picking apart the Lakers’ defense seemingly at will, to go with nine assists and five rebounds.

    Six Thunder players scored in double figures, including Isaiah Joe (21 points off the bench) and Ajay Mitchell (14 points).

    The Lakers, who are 1-2 so far on their five-game trip, will play the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday and the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday in a back-to-back set before heading home to Los Angeles.

    More to come on this story.

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    Khobi Price

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  • Luka Doncic, Lakers rally past Spurs, hang on for 5th straight win

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    Lakers center Deandre Ayton, left, and San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama reach for a rebound during the first half on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025, at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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    LOS ANGELES — All but one of the questions that Lakers personnel, including Coach JJ Redick and starting center Deandre Ayton, were asked ahead of Wednesday night’s game revolved around San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama.

    And understandably so, with the 7-foot-4 (likely taller) French big man, as Redick put it, being one of the league’s unique players in the sense that he bends opponents’ principles – offensively and defensively.

    But the Lakers had an admirable performance when it came to containing Wembanyama, got another high-scoring near-triple-double from Luka Doncic (35 points), then survived a late gaffe to rally past the Spurs, 118-116, in a foul-plagued game at Crypto.com Arena.

    “Our group is so connected right now, we were able to get back together and there was no quitting,” Redick said. “There was no splintering. It’s a connected group.”

    Doncic, who was back in the lineup after sitting out of Monday’s win in Portland, added 13 assists, nine rebounds, five steals and a pair of blocked shots to his scoring total.

    Despite his subpar shooting efficiency (9 for 27 from the field), he made the plays they needed to secure their fifth straight win, putting them at 7-2 overall ahead of their five-game road trip.

    “For him and for the group, the word of the day is like resiliency,” Redick said. “He showed that in the second half. Playing through some foul trouble, playing through what quite honestly was a frustrating, abnormal offensive night for him. And he stayed with it.

    “Without Austin [Reaves], without LeBron [James], his teammates are looking to him to kind of keep that resolve and keep that positive disposition, and he was able to do that throughout the game. That’s an area of growth and I thought he was great at that.”

    The Lakers finished the game on a 21-10 run, but the Spurs got one last chance when Marcus Smart committed an inbound violation after Kelly Olynyk’s putback layup with 1.2 seconds left.

    “I couldn’t believe it,” Smart said. “When I released the ball, they said I stepped over it. I’m like, ‘we see the play all the time when a guy gets the ball out quick and his leg is like this [raises leg] and he is still inbounds and he throws the ball in and there is no call.

    “But as a 12-year vet, I can’t make that mistake. Can’t even put the call and the ball in [their] hands to have that call called against us. I take full ownership of it. My teammates understand. They are going to joke with me. They are going to let me hear about it. But it will never happen again.”

    Justin Champagnie then drew a foul from Jake LaRavia before time expired while trying to tip in the Spurs’ inbound pass, but Champagnie missed his first free throw, and none of the Spurs could tip in the second miss at the buzzer.

    “We stayed together,” Ayton said. “And that’s the main thing, being in tough games and games not going your way, especially when you’re at home.”

    The Lakers trailed for much of the second half, but Doncic made a step-back 3-pointer to give them a 113-112 lead with 2:31 left as part of a fourth quarter that saw the Lakers outscore the Spurs 30-20.

    The 26-year-old Slovenian star wasn’t credited with an assist on the play, but he passed the ball to Ayton (22 points, 10 rebounds) before the center drew a shooting foul, making both free throws, to increase the Lakers’ lead to 115-112 with 1:27 remaining.

    The Lakers then survived the late lapse by Smart (17 points, five assists, five rebounds) in a wild finish.

    Rui Hachimura scored 15 points, including a 3-pointer that cut the Lakers’ deficit to 106-104 after they trailed by eight entering the fourth.

    “It’s remarkable, he can go eight minutes of a game [and] not touch a basketball, literally not touch a ball,” Redick said. “And then just bang a wide-open 3. And he made that 3, which was huge.”

    Hachimura also drew the charge against Wembanyama that fouled the big man out with 1:39 left, and the Lakers leading 113-112.

    “The charge on Wemby, I looked it up, his eighth charge of his entire career,” Redick said. “That, at least in my opinion, was the biggest one yet. Two big plays from Rui.”

    Wembanyama finished with 19 points on 4-of-11 shooting to go with eight rebounds, three assists and one blocked shot before fouling out. Stephon Castle and Jeremy Sochan added 16 points apiece.

    Doncic made a handful of stellar plays as the Lakers rallied in the tightly officiated game between two undermanned teams. Harrison Barnes and Sochan also fouled out in the fourth quarter in a game that featured 66 fouls, 84 free-throw attempts and took nearly 3 hours to complete (2:54).

    “It was a hard game, I think, for both teams to get into a rhythm,” Redick said. “It’s not a critique of the officials. I actually thought they were consistent, which is all you can really ask for. Both teams have gotten used to playing a certain way in terms of physicality. And the game was just officiated differently. And that’s not to say it was officiated poorly or was officiated great. It was just officiated differently.”

    The Lakers trailed 106-97 with just over seven minutes to play, but they held the Spurs without a field goal for nearly 4½ minutes as they cut into the margin.

    Reaves missed his second straight game with a hamstring injury.

    The Lakers will kick off their road trip on Saturday against the Atlanta Hawks.

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  • Reaves 51-Point Performance Fuels Lakers Victory – LAmag

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    Hachimura and Ayton joined Reaves to help cover the loss of LeBron James

    The Lakers received bad news before the season even started.

    In early October, the Los Angeles team announced that star small forward and future Hall of Famer LeBron James would miss the season opener and the first three to four weeks of the season due to sciatica on his right side.

    When the Lakers’ star player went down, other playmakers had to rise to the occasion.

    And 27-year-old guard Austin Reaves responded emphatically, putting the team on his back Sunday night, scoring a career-high 51 points against the Sacramento Kings in a 127-120 victory at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. 

    The 51-point performance gave the Lakers their second consecutive victory – after beating the Minnesota Timberwolves by 18 on Friday, in which Reaves added 25 points and 11 assists – and elevated the Los Angeles side to a 2-1 record.

    James’ absence from the hardwood has meant a heavily increased contribution from Reaves, with the 6-foot-five shooting guard getting ample opportunities with the ball in his hand.

    And the fifth-year player has yet to disappoint, averaging 34 points per game across the first three contests of the season. Reaves has also dipped his foot into other areas of the game outside of scoring. 

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    The shooting guard has fortified the backcourt alongside Luka Dončić, giving the Lakers not only a formidable ball handler but also a guard who can make plays for his teammates.

    Reaves is averaging 9.7 assists across the first three games of the 2025-2026 campaign and has yet to produce fewer than nine assists in a game. 

    “The biggest thing from tonight was our passing,” said Lakers head coach JJ Redick after the Lakers’ last preseason game. “The reality is we should have had about 35 assists, we got to figure out our lobs and we had a couple Harlem Globetrotter plays when the simple play was right there. We had multiple possessions where everyone touched it, we created multiple advantages, got good shots, some of which we didn’t make but I liked our offensive flow and execution for most of the game.”

    The former Oklahoma star’s ability to successfully facilitate the offense has allowed Lakers shooters to combine for an efficient 54.1% shooting percentage from the field. Reaves has also put in work on the offensive and defensive glass, as he is averaging 7.7 boards per game through three contests so far.

    Reaves is not the only contributor to take advantage of James’ absence, either.

    New Lakers center Deandre Ayton has seen his production steadily increase as he finds his footing in a new environment. The Bahamas local is averaging 15.7 points per game and has steadily increased his point total from 10 to 15 to 20 over the first three games of the season. 

    Ayton boasted a season-high 20 points in the Lakers’ most recent victory against the Kings and has excelled in the pick-and-roll game early in the season. 

    “When I’m setting screens it’s not only for the two guys in the screen its more for my shooters to get open,” Ayton said after the Lakers’ preseason game to the Kings. “Once I get those open, they hit one or two of them, my paint start to open up and the defense starts to be a little bit more honest. Me and Luka get pretty free to hit the pocket or finish the rolls.” 

    Ayton’s rebounding efforts have also steadily increased, which has been vital to the Lakers’ success as Ayton was brought to Los Angeles to fortify the Lakers’ front court, as many attributed last season’s struggles to a lack of a true center.

    The center is averaging 9.7 rebounds per game and logged a season high 15 boards against the Kings. Forward Rui Hachimura has also seen his contributions increase. He is currently averaging a career high 16.7 points on a 4.5% shooting percentage from beyond the arc.

    The revamped Laker lineup will continue its LeBron-less play Monday night at Crypto.com Arena against the Portland Trailblazers.

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  • Austin Reaves’ career-high 51 points lead Lakers to win over Kings

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    SACRAMENTO — JJ Redick has made a message clear across his first two seasons as the Lakers head coach: players’ roles don’t change when their teammates aren’t available. Even when those teammates are two of NBA’s biggest stars in Luka Doncic and LeBron James.

    Redick’s ask from the other players is for them to star within the framework of their respective roles that have been laid out for them – a sentiment best embodied on Sunday by Austin Reaves, who set a new career-high for points in the Lakers’ 126-120 win over the Sacramento Kings.

    Reaves scored 51 points at Golden 1 Center, topping his previous career-high of 45 points he scored in the Feb. 8 home win over the Indiana Pacers last season, to go along with 10 rebounds and nine assists and a pair of steals.

    Deandre Ayton also stepped up in light of the Lakers being without James and Doncic, recording a 21-point, 15-rebound double-double.

    Reaves took a patient approach in leading the Lakers’ offense with the absences of Doncic and James.

    He had seven points and two assists in the first quarter, with the Lakers leading 36-27 after Rui Hachimura made his first four shot attempts for 10 first-quarter points.

    Reaves took over in the second, scoring over half (14) of the Lakers’ 26 points in the quarter to help them keep pace with a Sacramento offense that scored 35 points in the second to send the game tied at 62 going into halftime. He added another 15 in the third, putting him at 36 for the game, helping give the Lakers a 95-90 lead going into the fourth.

    And the Lakers, who fell behind 101-97 early in the fourth while Reaves was on the bench, needed every bit of his scoring flurry in the final quarter.

    Reaves made three pull-up 3-pointers within 2 ½ minutes of subbing back into the game in the fourth, putting him at 45 points, with his last one giving the Lakers a 108-101 lead.

    The Lakers used Sacramento’s aggressive defensive schemes on Reaves against them, opening up scoring chances Ayton, Hachimura and Jake LaRavia.

    Reaves broke his previous career-high with a floater that put the Lakers up 122-116 with two minutes left before making four free throws in the final 32 seconds for the first 50-point game of his NBA career.

    Hachimura had 18 points, while Marcus Smart added 11 points and five assists. LaRavia finished with 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.

    The Kings were led by Zach LaVine’s 32 points, and DeMar DeRozan’s 21 points, six rebounds and three assists. Dennis Schroder had an 18-point, 12-assist double-double, while Domantas Sabonis finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds.

    The Lakers will host the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night to close out their back-to-back set.

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  • Lakers eager for playoff rematch against Timberwolves

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    EL SEGUNDO — With the Lakers set for a matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night, Coach JJ Redick went down a game film rabbit hole on the team that eliminated them in five games in a first-round playoff series last spring.

    A rabbit hole so deep that Redick found himself watching film from his own career involving a player he now coaches and a former teammate who now plays for the Golden State Warriors, whom the Lakers lost to in their season opener on Tuesday night.

    “I actually, at one point, was watching inverted pick-and-rolls when I was in Philly and Marcus [Smart] was top locking me,” Redick said, “and Al Horford shoved him and I sent him the clip.”

    But Redick, who in hindsight said he would have treated the week the Lakers had in between securing the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference and the start of the playoff series against the Timberwolves “completely different” than he did, did watch “a lot” of film from the five games last spring.

    What stuck out to him was how hard his team played – and how this year’s iteration of the Lakers needs to get to that level.

    “After Game 1, our guys played so hard,” Redick recalled. “And this group has to build a habit of playing that hard every single night. We didn’t start that way. We played really hard Game 1 against Minnesota last year on opening night with that group. And then it didn’t really become our habit until later in late January. That’s the biggest takeaway from watching that stuff is we gotta get back to that.”

    The Lakers and Timberwolves will look different compared to the last time they squared off – a 103-96 Minnesota victory in Game 5 on April 30 to end the Lakers’ 2024-25 season.

    Forward Dorian Finney-Smith, a key reserve who started in Game 5, is no longer with the Lakers and is now on the Houston Rockets. LeBron James remains sidelined because of sciatica in his right side.

    The Timberwolves’ most notable offseason change was losing key reserve Nickeil Alexander-Walker in a sign-and-trade with the Atlanta Hawks.

    But they’ve also changed their starting lineup from last season, replacing 38-year-old point guard Mike Conley with Donte DiVincenzo.

    “Donte’s an underrated defender,” Redick said. “Mike, in our playoff series, he did a really good job defensively. He is obviously not the defender that he was in the prime of his career when he was on those Memphis teams. But I think it gives them another very physical defender. And similar to our coverage board last season, it’s a coverage board with a lot of lasers on the coverage board and Donte’s that.”

    REINFORCEMENT

    More than 30 people, including Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones, were arrested on Thursday morning for their alleged roles in illegal sports betting and rigged poker games backed by the Mafia.

    The arrests, which were two separate cases, came after a multi-year investigation by federal agents involving tens of millions of dollars, FBI director Kash Patel said.

    Jones, who was an unofficial part of former Lakers head coach Darvin Ham’s staff and is no longer with the team under Redick, is alleged to have shared non-public information about the status of Lakers players with gamblers during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.

    The Department of Justice’s news release stated: “As alleged, former NBA player and coach Jones shared and sold insider information on numerous occasions about undisclosed information relating to NBA games, such as lineup decisions and pre-release medical information, to his co-conspirators, who then placed significant wagers based on the tips. For example, on February 9, 2023, and January 15, 2024, respectively, Jones provided insider information to co-conspirators about pre-release medical information concerning star players on the Los Angeles Lakers for the purpose of enabling the co-conspirators to place wagers based on this information.”

    Redick addressed the Lakers, who as an organization aren’t accused of any wrongdoing in the indictments, being mentioned in the FBI’s press briefing.

    “I’m finding it out as you guys are,” he said. “So I don’t really have a comment on that.”

    Redick mentioned the Lakers have had multiple meetings to reinforce the NBA’s anti-gambling policies.

    “We’ve had two meetings on it already,” he said. “It’s obviously on the front of everyone’s awareness given the last two years, but other than that, there’s no other comment.”

    TIMBERWOLVES AT LAKERS

    When: Friday, 7 p.m.

    Where: Crypto.com Arena

    TV/Radio: Amazon Prime Video/710 AM

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  • Luka Doncic scores 43 points, but Lakers fall to Warriors in season opener

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    LOS ANGELES — During a 12½-minute pregame media availability that touched on a wide variety of subjects ahead of his team’s regular-season opener against the Golden State Warriors, one word Coach JJ Redick uttered stood out among the rest: discipline.

    Redick mentioned discipline in response to a question about the Warriors’ offensive system, saying defenses need to play within the rules they establish, especially against Golden State’s signature post-split actions that create overreactions, leading to easy scoring opportunities.

    But Redick’s mention of discipline could have applied to several areas of Tuesday night’s game for the Lakers – because their lack of it played a significant part in them dropping the opener, 119-109, despite Luka Doncic (43 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists) turning in a stellar offensive performance.

    Despite saying he felt his team’s discipline was “pretty good” postgame, Redick pointed to the areas the Lakers weren’t dialed in like they needed to be.

    “It’s like the times…you make your own thing up,” Redick said. “Steph Curry gets a back cut for a layup. Gary Payton [II] slips and gets a dunk. We don’t [switch] a small-small pick and roll, and Jimmy [Butler] turns the corner, they get a layup.

    “There’s gonna be growing pains with that early in the season and hopefully it’s not long.”

    The Lakers’ lack of ball security (20 turnovers – 15 in the first half) hurt them and helped create easier opportunities for the Warriors, who scored 22 points off the giveaways. They didn’t stay attached enough to one of Golden State’s best shooters, and Buddy Hield (17 points) found his rhythm behind the arc as a difference-maker off the bench.

    The Lakers’ defense was stretched thin by the Warriors’ speed and quickness during the third quarter, which Golden State opened with a 19-4 run on its way to a 35-25 advantage in the period. The Lakers’ struggles coming out of halftime date to last season, and it ultimately undid them.

    “We’ve just been bad at third quarters the last couple of years, for sure,” Austin Reaves said. “Ever since I’ve been here, we’ve had a problem with third quarters. So just got to figure out a way to come out with a little more energy. It was the first thing JJ talked about afterwards, just figuring out a way to be better in the third quarter.

    “That’s on us players, that’s not on the coaches. They come and give us what we need, give us the answers to the test. And we just didn’t find an execute, so that’s on us. We have to be better.”

    A late 13-3 run helped make the game competitive, with the Lakers trimming their deficit to six (105-99) after a layup from Reaves (26 points, nine assists and five rebounds) with 3:59 left. Reaves scored half of his points in the fourth.

    But that was the closest the Lakers got after being down by as many as 17 earlier in the fourth, with the visitors making the Lakers pay for any opening they left open.

    Curry sealed the victory with a 31-foot 3-pointer that gave the Warriors a 117-107 lead with 51 seconds left. The two-time league MVP made a pair of free throws 12 seconds later, finishing with 23 points and four assists.

    Butler led the Warriors with 31 points and made all 16 of his free throw attempts to go with five rebounds and four assists.

    Deandre Ayton was the lone Laker outside of Doncic and Reaves to score in double figures, finishing with 10 points (5-of-7 shooting) and six rebounds. Marcus Smart had nine points in his Lakers debut.

    Jonathan Kuminga added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Warriors, who shot 17 for 40 from 3-point range and 26 for 29 from the foul line. The Lakers were 8 for 32 from long range and 17 for 28 from the free-throw line.

    Lakers star LeBron James missed a season opener for the first time in his 23 years in the NBA, watching from the bench due to sciatica that is expected to sideline him until mid-November.

    “It’s hard to forget about LeBron,” Redick said. “The reality is when you’re focused on the group that you have, you gotta make that group work. Sometimes you can just be like, ‘oh my God, we’re gonna get LeBron back at some point.’ Like it’s awesome, but, you are focused.”

    The Lakers will host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.

    Originally Published:

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    Khobi Price

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