The Los Angeles Lakers mounted an improbable win on Monday night against the Portland Trail Blazers. LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves were all out, leaving Nick Smith Jr., Marcus Smart and Bronny James as head coach JJ Redick’s entire guard rotation on the second night of a back-to-back. It was widely viewed as the Lakers punting the game.
Instead, Smith scored 25 points off the bench, Rui Hachimura tallied 28 points and Deandre Ayton led the way with 29 and 10 rebounds en route to a 123-115 victory over Portland. It brings the Lakers to 6-2 on the season, despite not yet having James in the lineup and Doncic missing four of the eight games.
It speaks to the type of fight the Lakers appear to have this year, something that hasn’t necessarily been true of any Lakers team since 2020. That belief and energy is part of what Redick loves about this group so far this season, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Yeah, that’s what I mean by the connectivity. We’ve got a good group. I’m excited about this group and what we could potentially be. I’m excited about the group, and his teammates loved it. The bench was awesome tonight, our huddles were awesome. Just again, expecting that we’re going to win. I thought our guys had that all night.”
Redick also spoke about what he believes might be contributing to the connectivity of the Lakers roster so far this season, crediting some of it to the player-first style he’s coaching the team with:
“I would say I’ve told the team this a number of times throughout the preseason and early in the season: the best teams are always going to be player-led. And so those guys holding each other to that, like I said, those huddles and the communication on the court. All those small interactions, they’re really valuable. The guys are holding each other accountable to that and as a coaching staff, you have to get buy-in to that and our guys are bought in. We talk about it as a group all the time, you can’t win in this league unless you play hard. It’s just impossible now. These guys have just been awesome for the last seven games.”
It takes more than one year for a new coach to establish a culture within an organization, generally. But based on the first eight games of the 2025-26 season, it seems Redick only needed a bit of time in his second season to do so. If the Lakers can stay competitive even with all of their star power out, that is something that sets a culture for when they are fully healthy.
Nick Smith Jr. was battling illness on Monday for Lakers
The Lakers have developed a reputation for rehabbing players’ values and their latest reclamation project appears to be Nick Smith Jr.
The Lakers signed Smith to a two-way deal in free agency after he was waived by the Charlotte Hornets, a surprising move considering he was a first-round pick just two years ago. Smith never found his footing during his tenure with a struggling Charlotte team, so latching on with Los Angeles represented a second shot of proving he belongs in the NBA.
The Lakers have been snakebitten by injuries to start the 2025-26 season, especially their guard rotation as Luka, Reaves, Gabe Vincent and Smart have all missed time. Against the Trail Blazers, Los Angeles was without Doncic and Reaves so this created an opening for Smith.
Smith responded with a 25-point outburst in the win against the Blazers, though he revealed after the game that he was feeling ill.
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