Considering they made big roster changes at the trade deadline and have dealt with numerous injuries since, the Los Angeles Lakers have not yet had enough time to build chemistry and continuity ahead of the playoffs.
The bad news is the Lakers only have 12 regular season games remaining in order to do that. The good news is that they are finally healthy after LeBron James and Rui Hachimura returned in Saturday night’s loss to the Chicago Bulls, so that building process can finally begin.
The first opportunity against the Bulls certainly wasn’t pretty though, and Austin Reaves acknowledged the Lakers need to be better.
“Be better. Everybody in the locker room knows that wasn’t the right energy from the get-go, so we gotta find a way to be better,” Reaves said.
Reaves also discussed the Lakers’ mindset between now and the playoffs.
“Play much better than we did tonight,” he said. “When we play the way we’re supposed to, we have a chance to beat anybody. But we still haven’t played that many games as a full unit so we still gotta learn the chemistry and timing of everything. Should be fun.”
Reaves has been in this position before as the Lakers also made big changes at the 2023 deadline and wound up going on a run to the Western Conference Finals. While he knows it’s possible, he also acknowledged that time is not on their side.
“The reality of it is we have 12 games left until the playoffs. It’s not like we can add a couple games to continue to try to piece all of that together. So we gotta figure it out in a quick span of time so when the playoffs are here, we hit the ground running. I believe we can do it, we’ve shown in instances where we have done it. Just gotta continue plucking at it.”
Austin Reaves on how Lakers can fast track chemistry-building
The Lakers are going to have to find a way to build chemistry quickly and Austin Reaves explained what it will take to do that.
“Talk. Talk to one another. That’s really it,” the guard said. “We can watch as much film as we want to watch to help that, but that communication amongst everyone on the team and the coaching staff is gonna play a big role in that. Like you said, we’re not gonna be on the court practicing that much with 12 games left. So we have to communicate, if it’s on flights talking about what we can do to be better, that’s what it will be. So I’m looking forward to it.”
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