Los Angeles-amid all the chaos and disruption last month for Los Angeles Lakers, they firmly established themselves among the best teams in the league.
Since January 15-his first victory after Los Angeles’s fires-Lakers has the best record in the league in 15-4. They are ranked first in the defensive classification, number 8 in offensive classification and number 3 in the net classification (just behind Cleveland Cavaliers and Akllahoma City Thunder).
They won despite Anthony Davis. Before it was circulated, the time is missing due to an abdominal injury, Luca Donic was not available for the first week after the trade, and Donic lost another match once he returned to the squad. Austin Reef and Jackson Hayes appeared only in each of the last 19 games. (Liberon James is close to 18.) Until then, coach JJ Redick has published different game strategies at night, which tested the group’s competitiveness and basketball intelligence.
For Redick, though, there is a simple line in the last term, and he speaks to the spirit he tried to instill in his group throughout the season.
“I think playing is hard,” Redik said in practice on Tuesday when he was asked to explain the success of the last group. “Competition. You are trying to capture it every night. Once again, this is a collective sport and the group should be right. I think it is more than once, our group was right with our competitive spirit.
“The game’s plan and what you are trying to do in an aggressive or defensive manner may change the game to the game. For me, it is less than a system because it is the ability to adapt and concepts. Then go to implement these concepts within the framework of the system.”
the next On Tuesday 107-99 beat Dallas MaverxWhen improving Lakers to 3-2 with Dončić, it’s time to start talking about them as a legitimate competitor.
Whether they can match the likes of Boston, Oklahoma City and Cleveland still should be seen (and as it seems unlikely). But it is reasonable to expect them to run well against the rest of the Western Conference (and even the East, if New York Nix, Milwoki Pacz or another team is progressing there). They have overcome many of these teams recently. They also have the best league duo in Donic and James. This at least indicates that they have a chance of punch, depending on how a decisive match occurs.
The teams that occupy the first ten rank on both parties to the court have a legitimate opportunity to win the championship. Lakers are not ranked first on both sides with their numbers that last their season, but they also passed through multiple identities, due to trading and Redick translation with the start and rotation squad. The last numbers are closer to the unlike they really are the size of the season sample.
“At the end of the day, winning is all that matters,” Reeves said. “Some victories are ugly, and some victories are beautiful, but at the end of the day, no one really cares because it decreases with winning the column.”
This version of Lakers has become increasingly dangerous as a group of small ball, with a mixture of James, Dorian Feni Smith, Jarred Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura, wandering and turning, cleaning defensive glass and better protecting the edge than expected. Lakers’s defense was somewhat better since Davis fell (then it was circulated). Since its last match, Los Angeles allows only 105.9 points per 100 properties, which is the best mark in the American Professional League.
“Once again, just the team’s defense,” Redik said in practice. “Our group is committed to it now. We have some good defenders, we have some really good defenders. … you have to play in defense of the team, and you have to rely on each other. We are doing it now.”
James, in particular, got praise from Redik on Tuesday to defend him.At the level of defense in the American Professional League “during the past six weeks.
“It is clear, it’s a collective thing,” James said. “But I take this side of the ground seriously. I take my matches seriously every night. To be able to stop in this league, this makes your crime much better.”
By the starting lineup, Finney-Smith, Vincept and Vanderbilt, Lakers have eight goals that can compete with anyone on a specific night. They won a statement over the past month (ISH) against CelTics, Denver Nuggets, Knicks, Golden State Warriors (twice) and La Clippers.
Lakers managed to play smaller, swarm and rotation against the likes of Nicolas Gokic, Carl Anthtthoni Towns and Evica Zobak, which indicates that Hayes is the only traditional big man-he is on the brilliant sides physically-far from their death.
Dončić trade has always been more than the future than the present, but it also raised the Lakers ceiling at the present time as well. He is a better player than Davis- perhaps the second or third player in the league behind Jokić- and he gives Lakers a surplus of creating the shot and making it difficult to contain.
Dončić and James have a prosperous game of two men that he showed along the MAVERICKS victory. The two are largely associated with a move or organically on the field, which implicitly means that they are still in the nascent stages and have more nutrition.
Luka to Liberon for the Tiri Ball 🎯
This is the tenth AST of Luca gives him three while Leberron reaches 20 points!
We are associated with a quarter -quarter in 91 🍿 pic.twitter.com/rzsxhs0nw6
– NBA (@NBA) February 26, 2025
“This will happen,” said James. “It is still early in this process, so it will happen. It is clear that the trade has happened and I think we had, what, two matches before the break? So we had two games before the break and then we had a holiday week. This does not help building that intimate friendship and building the things we want to do in an aggressive manner.
“So you will come and every game and every movie session, every practice, Shotaround we’ll get a chance to be better and better. I thought about the latter extension when that game was linked, I showed what we could be able to. So we will just have to build from it.”
Of course, 19 games are not the largest sample size. Lakers may back down. Defense may return to the ground or the absence of better positions in a specific match. They have the fourth most schedule, according to Tankathon, which can drop them in the arrangement a little.
Meanwhile, 19 games are more than a third of the season so far for Lakers (35-21)-the third that really concerns. This is the time when identities are formed and seeds are determined.
Depending on the way the next month is going, Lakers can be anywhere between the number 2 and No. 6, which will have a significant impact on the course of the qualifying and possibilities on the title.
They are not in the inner circle with Boston, Akllahoma City and Cleveland. But they are heading in this direction. At least they belong to the next group with the likes of Denver, Memphis, New York and Miluke, among the two others.
They have high -end talents, depth and defense to make a deep separate match. No one will want to face James and Dunic in a series of seven games. At this point, Lakers’s success is no longer surprising, as it is legally good with an opportunity to cause some noise in April and May and perhaps until June.
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(Photo of Liberon James: Sean M. Havi / Getti Emiez)
