The Los Angeles Lakers have looked like a completely different team over the last couple of weeks. Since Feb. 28, JJ Redick’s team is 8-1, including their current five-game win streak. They also have massive wins over the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets in that span, temporarily halting the narrative that they can’t beat good teams.
It’s a small sample size, but the Lakers have the No. 3 offense, No. 8 defense and No. 2 net rating in their last nine games. It has them up to third in the Western Conference with 15 games to go, with a chance to really separate themselves with two games against the Houston Rockets coming up.
Nobody within the Lakers wants to get too far ahead of themselves — as this is where games truly start to matter most for playoff teams — but Redick is feeling confident about where the purple and gold are at, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
“Is ‘coalesce’ a word? Is that the right word? For coming together?” Redick asked. “I think it feels like we’re coalescing right now in a really nice way. Still got a long way to go, still got a long way to go, but certainly optimistic with how we handled this stretch of games. … It’s big time.”
Redick is correct in his use of coalesce, as the Lakers are truly coming together in the stretch run of the season. LeBron James — after a three-game absence — seems to have found the sweet spot in being a scorer versus keeping the team’s offensive focus with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton have become great contributors in important games, even if both still carry some consistency issues in different ways. And unlike last year, it appears that Redick has more than five players that he trusts to take big-time minutes in big-time games.
Those are the kinds of things that really build confidence for a team that needs to outperform themselves from last year’s postseason. Another swift first-round exit would be a massive disappointment, and for one of the first times this season, it feels like more can be on the table.
LeBron James wants Lakers to strive for Nuggets’ DNA
The Lakers seem to have conquered some of their demons with the Nuggets since the acquisition of Luka Doncic. But LeBron James still sees the Nuggets as a team that the Lakers need to strive to emulate, given the championship DNA that they play with.
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