The Los Angeles Lakers got their second win in two nights on Monday against the San Antonio Spurs. It was a relatively easy wire-to-wire victory for the Lakers, led by Austin Reaves and a near triple-double for Luka Doncic. Head coach JJ Redick’s offense scored 125 points with nine turnovers while shooting 48.9% from the field and 39.6% from deep as a team.
The Lakers had 34 assists on the night, the bulk of them coming from Doncic. The Lakers superstar did not have a great shooting night — 5-of-20 from the field — but that was largely due to a defensive scheme from San Antonio that saw him double-teamed on a majority of possessions throughout the night. It’s why he was able to get 14 assists, as Redick was able to win the 4-on-3 scheme most times down the floor.
Doncic spoke after the game about the way teams play him defensively and how the Lakers are starting to figure out that they have an advantage offensively every time down the court.
“People start learning that at some point in the game, they’re going to double-team me,” Doncic said. “Like I always say, I accept that, and I like playing [like] that. It saves my energy. You just have to play 4-on-3, and I think guys are doing great out there.”
Dorian Finney-Smith, Austin Reaves, Jordan Goodwin, Gabe Vincent and Dalton Knecht combined to go 17-for-39 from beyond the arc, which is 43.6%. And when players are hitting like that, among other positives from Monday night, Luka thinks the Lakers can be unstoppable.
“I mean, it just shows the team we have, I think we share the ball very good,” he said. “When we play, pace is very hard to stop us. And like you said, open 3s, we have that many open 3s. You should win the game, and you should make 3s. So we just gotta keep playing like that and show the ball how we do.”
Doncic had specific praise for Redick and Reaves for the way the offense operates, and knows that with time it’s only going to get better.
“It makes my life easier. Those actions that he puts, there was one ATO today that we ran twice, and it was just for an alley-oop, so that explains JJ’s [Redick] mind. The way he sees basketball, it’s amazing,” Doncic said. “But just me and AR [Austin Reaves] calling off the ball, it helps me and him and everybody else because we do it with pace, and it’s hard to stop us.”
The Lakers desperately needed to get back into the win column against two beatable opponents in the Spurs and Phoenix Suns. They not only did so, but they were consistent on both ends of the floor in what looked to be two easy victories. After four straight losses with LeBron James out of the lineup, getting some confidence that they can win while shorthanded was big moving forward.
Austin Reaves enjoying fun brand of basketball alongside Luka Doncic
Austin Reaves has been excellent for the Lakers over the last few games, and he and Luka Doncic have begun developing a strong chemistry with LeBron James out of the lineup. Reaves said he’s been enjoying the fun brand of basketball the Lakers have been playing, especially now that it has translated to two straight wins.
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