Luka, Reaves and the 48 hours that changed the Lakers’ season

Los Angeles Lakers’ The surge at the end of the season not only raised the team’s position in the standings. This changed their hierarchy and boosted their faith.

For more than a month from late February to early April – 33 days to be exact – the Lakers were one of the hottest teams in basketball, building momentum for a long postseason run.

Injuries that have plagued the roster since the beginning of training camp have healed. The roles of the Lakers’ three stars luka doncic, Lebron James And austin reeves Harmony was found. And the results were impressive.

From February 28 to April 1, the Lakers went 16–2. Their attack, which had been ranked 11th in its first 58 games of the season, jumped to 4th. Their defense, which was ranked 24th, suddenly dropped to a creditable ninth.

Even though the Lakers were 10 games above .500 before the streak began, there were legitimate criticisms of how sustainable their performance was up to that point — and their improved play put those concerns to rest, too.

Suddenly a team that couldn’t shoot went from No. 19 to No. 8 in 3-point percentage. The team, which did not have the requisite athletes to return in transition, dropped from No. 13 to No. 8 in opponent fast-break points. And the team that always lost to good teams is counted new York Knicks, minnesota timberwolves, denver nuggets, cleveland cavaliers and this Houston Rockets (twice) amidst their conquests.

after a 127-113 win over Cleveland On March 31, during which the Lakers avenged a 30-point loss early in the season by outscoring the Cavs 78–49 in the second and third quarters, Doncic was asked about the postseason changes.

“The race we’re in makes a lot of sense. We just have to keep playing,” Doncic said.

Then, 48 hours later, everything changed.

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a tornado watch And a storm that lit up the sky and dropped more than an inch of rain in Oklahoma City foreshadowed the Lakers’ game against the Thunder on April 2.

It was the first time LA had faced the defending champions since November 12. Thunder scored 121-92.

In that game, the Lakers were missing James, who was out with a sciatica injury that kept him out the first month of the season, and the Thunder were without jalen williamsJoe was recovering from offseason wrist surgery.

Five months later, this game was supposed to be different, both teams were playing at full strength and the Thunder were just as hot as LA, having won 15 of their last 16 games.

This was supposed to be a chance for the Lakers to validate their lead and highlight the individual performances between Doncic and . Shai Gilgeous-AlexanderMVP votes are potentially on the line.

Instead, what should have been a showdown between two of the NBA’s best teams quickly turned into something else: a slaughter.

The Thunder led 18–4 in the first few minutes and led 82–51 at halftime. Reeves shifted to his left for a long rebound in the first quarter but remained in the game.

The second half was even worse for the Lakers Doncic left the game midway through the third quarter After injuring his left hamstring and collapsing on the court in pain.

Sources told ESPN that after the game, the Lakers were already mentally preparing to be without Doncic for a period of time. His left hamstring previously sidelined him for four games leading up to the All-Star break, and it’s the type of injury that has a higher risk of reoccurrence.

An MRI was scheduled for the next day in Dallas. Grade 2 strain detected in it.

It was definitely a blow, but not a knockout.

The Lakers were still No. 3 in the West with five regular season games remaining – and two of them were rivals. dallas mavericks And utah jazz, They were focused on their draft lottery odds, not necessarily on winning..

Reeves’ left side was still bothering him, so the team also scheduled an MRI for him. Team sources told ESPN that initially, they thought he might only miss a game or two and return before the end of the regular season.

Meanwhile, there was disappointment within the team that marcus smart He was unable to return to help with ball handling responsibilities after suffering a right ankle injury, team sources told ESPN.

When the Lakers met for practice at Southern Methodist University the day before the Mavs game, the team acknowledged that the road to a long postseason run had waned. Nevertheless, there was internal confidence that it was navigable.

Redick said he will add offensive touches to the center deandre ayton and further Rui Hachimura – Music to his ears after having to look forward to shots all season long.

met redick Luke Kennard, acquired for their shooting in a business with atlanta hawks At the deadline, about his need to play on-ball in the interim.

“We went through some stuff and I was in a different situation,” Kennard told ESPN. “They were preparing me for what was about to happen.”

James, for his part, was surprised by what it would mean for him personally, sources close to him said, because even though he volunteered to be the third option behind Doncic and Reeves during L.A.’s win, he never felt he needed to do so because of any decline in his play. It was what the team needed at that time.

“Our job, these other guys and my staff, we’re going to go after the No. 3 seed and we’re going to try to win a playoff series,” Redick said after practice on April 4. And we’ll see what happens with Luca.

A few hours later, after practice ended, the team received the results of Reeves’s second MRI, while the first MRI was inconclusive: he had grade 2 oblique strain sustained there will be more Too Will be out for four to six weeks, sources told ESPN.

Suddenly, that narrow path felt as if it was closing completely.

“[After the Reaves news] It’s almost like JJ said, ‘Do I need to address this again with the team now?'” a team source told ESPN.

Next day, The last two news stories played themselves out in American Airlines court.

LA fell behind by 22 points to the Mavs and lost 134–128. Despite that, Dallas has lost eight of its last nine games.

James was fantastic, scoring 30 points on 12-22 shooting with 15 assists and nine rebounds. Hachimura took 13 field goal attempts, his most in months, and he made nine of them. Kennard had the first triple-double of his career with 15 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists while shooting only 5 of 17.

But multiple Lakers sources told ESPN that the defensive fighting attitude the team talked about at SMU, the attitude that had grown so much during the season, was passive. And Dallas, despite little incentive to do so, dominated, with no love lost among the franchise since the fallout of the Doncic trade.

Two days later, the Lakers played the Thunder again, this time in Los Angeles. And then, it was ugly.

Redick benched Hachimura a few minutes after tipoff and then called timeout to pull jared vanderbilt Only 16 seconds were left in the second quarter heated argument between the twoReeves and Lakers assistant coach Nate McMillan took steps to prevent it from escalating.

LA trailed by seven at the time of the Vanderbilt controversy; The Thunder pushed that lead to over 40 in the second half. The loss dropped the Lakers to 0-2 since the injuries, and the Nuggets dropped to No. 3 in the West, putting L.A. in danger of losing home-court advantage in the first round if it continues to fall, with back-to-back sets against Golden State and Phoenix looming.

Before the game against the Warriors, the Lakers gathered for a team meeting at their hotel in San Francisco.

Redick started with a confession — that he had overlooked the emotional impact of the game in Oklahoma City.

“It was important to just address the situation and talk about the situation,” he said. “And [acknowledge] The level of trust with our group during that six-week period. “Now we have to figure out how to get this group — and those players, the coaches, all of us — confident at a high level again.”

Added a team source: “I think it was a bigger shock to the system than we realized.”

James’ conduct also came under attention during the team’s preparation for the Warriors.

“Leading the group in the walkthrough, taking it seriously and coming out and trying to get a win in Golden State, it kind of resets the tone of, ‘Hey guys, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but let’s stay committed to each other,'” a source at the meeting told ESPN. “Let’s stay committed to this process.”

Then he did this.

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lakers beat Warrior 119-103 On 9 April. then he slapped the sun 101-73 next night. And they finished the regular season with a 131-107 The win over Utah last Sunday.

Their 3–0 final performance gave them a record of 53–29 – three more wins than the previous season.

James was named Western Conference Player of the Week after averaging 24.0 points, 9.7 assists and 6.0 rebounds in the loss to Doncic and Reeves.

And remarkably, from April 3-12, the Lakers actually advanced Several areas away from where he ranked during his hot streak. His defense became even stronger and his team’s 3-point percentage increased from 37.6% to 41.2%.

The Lakers, at least for now, have settled down.

they will open their First round series as the Western Conference’s No. 4 seedIt hosts the No. 5-seeded Houston Rockets in Game 1 on Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC).

And as they prepare for it, sources tell ESPN they have There is no expectation for Doncic or Reeves to return any time in the first round. But he also hasn’t completely ruled out the possibility of one or both of them being available should the series go on longer.

“We’ve been hiking all season, lost in the woods and no one thought we’d be rescued,” Reddick said. “And we find a way out and we get back to the grasslands and find civilization, and we’ll be OK. That’s our group. I think we’ve all adapted to it, and now we’ve just got to find it with this group.”