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"The Lakers take care of business." | NBA Cup Mini Movie

Mike Trudell

The Lakers (1-3) face the Timberwolves (3-1) in Game 5 of their Round 1 series at&nbsp;Crypto.com&nbsp;Arena on Wednesday evening. The game tips at 7:00 p.m. on Spectrum SportsNet.

ONE GAME AT A TIMEAfter a physically and emotionally exhausting Game 4 loss at Minnesota, LeBron James was asked about his message to the team, given that he’s been in every possible basketball situation, including trailing 3-1.

“You don’t think about winning three, you think about just getting the next one,” he said. “That’s the only thing that matters, because if not, the offseason begins. It’s all about Wednesday. That’s what’s important.”

JJ Redick’s message after Tuesday’s practice back in El Segundo echoed LeBron’s, emphasizing the one-game-at-a-time mentality.

“Our focus is on Game 5,” he said. “We have to win Game 5. That’s been conveyed by coaches, players … tomorrow is a Game 7 for us.

“We have to play with a sense of desperation. You can’t change what’s already happened, you can’t feel sorry for yourself. There’s a lot of stuff that we did defensively that’s preventable. Both games up there, I thought there were a lot of self-inflicted wounds.”

How would he describe his team’s mentality heading into an elimination game?

“I would describe us as ‘On edge,’” said Redick. “As we should be.”

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LEBRON’S UNPRECEDENTED PRODUCTIONLeBron notably led Cleveland to the NBA title in 2016 when they trailed Golden State 3-1. In Game 5 of that series, he scored 41 points with 16 rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and three steals. 

That was nine years ago, making it all the more incredible that he’s somehow still producing at his current level at age 40. Here are LeBron’s numbers from the two games at Minnesota:

It’s hard to imagine any player, let alone the only guy in NBA history to be playing in a postseason in Year 22, could keep up that level of production. But if anybody could, it would be LeBron James.&nbsp;

BEST VS. BESTIn the regular season, LA’s best lineup in a significant sample size after the All-Star break featured the same group that played the entire second half in Game 4, with Dorian Finney-Smith replacing typical starter Jaxson Hayes. That fivesome had a +15.3 net rating after the All-Star break.

It’s a bit harder to analyze that crew in this Round 1 series, since the Lakers didn’t play their typical way in Game 1, and especially because Doncic was severely under the weather in Game 3. Yet in Game 4, the group was responsible for turning a 3-point halftime deficit into a 10-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, before Minnesota roared all the way back to take the win.

The group that Wolves coach Chris Finch countered LA’s preferred five with was Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo, Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle and Naz Reid, essentially swapping out usual starters Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert for Reid and DiVincenzo. Perhaps surprisingly, that group had only a -4.3 net rating on the season, and a -10.2 mark after the All-Star break.&nbsp;

And yet, they’ve had considerable success against the Lakers this postseason, with a 53.3 NETRTG, and a team-best +27 in raw plus/minus in Games 1-4.&nbsp;

I asked Doncic about that Wolves 5 fivesome.

“They try to go to blitz a little bit with Naz,” he responded. “If they go back to blitz, just play out of there. If not, attack. Attack the paint. That’s been our main focus, and we have to do that more.”

“We have to fly around,” Doncic explained. “They have five lasers on the court, really good shooters, so we have to fly around.”

At some point of the game, we’ll see these groups once again, and the Lakers will need to count on a better close than they were able to muster in Minnesota.&nbsp;

“(Being down 3-1 is) definitely disappointing, but we haven’t lost nothing yet,” Doncic concluded. “It’s the first to four wins, and we just gotta still believe.”

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Three Things to Know: Lakers vs. Wolves, Game 5

The Lakers (42-25) face Denver (44-25) for the 4th&nbsp;and final time this regular season on Wednesday at&nbsp;Crypto.com&nbsp;Arena. The game tips at 7:00 p.m. on Spectrum SportsNet.BATTLES THIS SEASONThe Lakers and Nuggets are far from strangers, having forged a recent rivalry through three dramatic playoff meetings, first in 2020, then again in 2023 and 2024. This regular season, we've already seen three matchups:

Each game featured different lineups for the Lakers, with Anthony Davis and Max Christie in the November mix, Dončić and Dorian Finney-Smith highlighting the February game, and Dalton Knecht and Shake Milton featuring in March. While the Nuggets are fully healthy for this regular season finale between the two Western contenders, LA will be without both LeBron and Rui Hachimura for a sixth straight game.TIEBREAKER ON THE LINEJJ Redick has been very clear that his focus will remain on preparing his team to play every day, and the opponent right in front of them. As such, all he's concerned with today is how to beat Denver. What Lakers fans might also be considering is the Western Conference standings, and how the result of this game might impact things.The winner of the game will immediately jump ahead in the all-important loss column, as both teams enter the contest with 25 L's. Denver, having won two of the previous three matchups this season, can clinch the tiebreaker over LA if they win on Wednesday. But if the Lakers win, the season series would be 2-2, thus bringing in the subsequent tiebreaker to head-to-head won-lost percentage. Via NBA.com, that is: "Division leader wins tie from team not leading a division."Since the Nuggets are in the Northwest Division with OKC (56-12), they have no chance of winning their division. The Lakers, on the other hand, lead Golden State by three games in the Pacific Division, and if they hold on to win the Pacific, LA would clinch the tiebreaker over Denver. If the Lakers were to be caught by the Warriors, the next applicable tiebreaker is "Conference won-lost percentage." LA currently has an edge on Denver there as well, at 29-13, to 27-15.

GAME PLAN CHALLENGEIn LA's win over Denver in February, Redick and his staff put together a terrific game plan, one that centered upon the swarming of Nikola Jokic with multiple defenders, including a focused attempt to deny him the basketball in the first place.Jokic managed to get only seven shots off in 35 minutes (plus 10 free throw attempts), to reach 12 points, one of only four games this season in which his shot attempt total has been less than 10. Russell Westbrook, on the other hand, a career 30.6% 3-point shooter who’s at 34.2% this year, attempted 17 shots, including seven triples, to score 17 points.&nbsp;A major key to that game plan against Jokic, however, was the size and physicality of LeBron and Hachimura, frontcourt options Redick won't have. That's tough! He does at least have Jaxson Hayes in the lineup, and his vertical spacing as an ideal lob threat on offense has been critical for Dončić and Reaves in particular. Hayes missed the entire 4-game road trip, and the Lakers lost all four games. But he's been available for the 10 games sandwiching that trip, all 10 of which have been LA wins.Christian Koloko has been getting the backup five minutes in the last several games with Trey Jemison III out sick, but Jemison is questionable for Wednesday's game, leaving a return to the court an option.

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Three Things to Know: Lakers vs. Nuggets, March 19, 2025

The Lakers (40-21) carry an 8-game winning streak into Boston to face the defending champions for a second time this season. The game tips at 5:30 p.m. on ABC.BASKETBALL’S BEST MATCHUPThere’s no better matchup in basketball, and perhaps in all sports, than Lakers vs. Celtics, a rivalry steeled when things matter most. Saturday evening’s contest will be the 302nd meeting, dating back to the initial game in November of 1948. The Lakers hold a 135-166 (.449) all-time mark against Boston. LA do carry a two-game winning streak into the contest, having beaten the Celtics last February in Boston despite missing both LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and then again this year on Jan. 23, when LA dealt the green jerseys their biggest loss of the season, 117-96.LA have a 16-12 record in Boston at TD Garden during the regular season; many of the Celtics wins against LA came in the 1960’s, when they won six times in the Finals against the Lakers, but the Purple and Gold have won three of the last four Finals matchups (1985, 1987 and 2010).

THAT LAST MATCHUPIn January, JJ Redick had an impressive game plan cooked up for his players to combat what the Celtics typically like to do, and they executed it with aplomb, jumping out to a 34-23 lead after the 1st Q that they’d never relinquish. Boston typically likes to shoot around 50 3’s per game, tops in the NBA (48.1 to be precise), getting good looks off drive-and-kick action. But Redick employed a switching scheme that discouraged driving lanes, and encouraged quick close outs, while allowing Kristaps Porzingis to attack smaller matchups on those switches. Ultimately, Boston attempted 41 3’s, making 14 (LA hit 15 of 35 on the other end), with Porzingis taking 16 shots, and Jayson Tatum 12 towards 16 points. Jaylen Brown hit only 7 of 19 shots, and Derrick White 1 for 5, as the Lakers did an excellent job on all three. Fast forward to today, and Boston has been without Porginzis and Jrue Holiday since Feb. 26, but both are expected to be available for the rematch. The Lakers, of course, present a different challenge for the Celtics this time around, thanks to the acquisition of Luka Doncic, who faced Boston in the Finals last year. Doncic averaged 29.2 points on 47.2% FG’s in that series (24.4% from 3), plus 8.8 boards and 5.6 assists with 2.6 steals, but this time has LeBron as a secondary creator, and Reaves as a tertiary creator. 

BIG-TIME BENCHDoncic and James have been spectacular for the Lakers during their 8-game winning streak, no doubt. But LA has been getting consistently strong performances from up and down the roster, including a terrific bench effort in Thursday’s OT win over the Knicks.“A night like tonight when it felt like a lot of things didn’t go our way and wasn’t easy, they often can come from your non-stars,” said JJ Redick. “I thought Jaxson’s (Hayes) defense in the second half and Gabe’s (Vincent) shot making was huge. Gabe doesn’t make those four threes, we’re not even in the game. I think for the group overall, once we reached their level of effort and how hard they were playing, we were right there, and we all felt that in the second half.”Hayes finished the game with eight points, five boards, three assists and two blocks, numbers that didn’t show his impact. He made a series of key plays late, including a block of Jalen Brunson, an offensive board leading to a clutch three and the assist on an OT three from Reaves. Vincent’s four threes came without a miss, including three in the final five minutes of the 4th Q, first to get LA within five (90-85), and then one (94-93) and ultimately in front (99-96). Meanwhile, Dalton Knecht nailed three triples of his own and had a clutch bucket at the rim over Karl Anthony-Towns, while Trey Jemison III went for seven points with four boards. The Lakers could use a similar effort from their bench crew in Boston, and may be helped further by Jordan Goodwin, who’s off the injured list after missing three straight games with a sprained ankle.

Los Angeles Lakers at Boston Celtics

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Three Things to Know: Lakers at Celtics, March 8, 2025

The Lakers (39-21) are ready to host the New York Knicks (40-21) for the only time this season on Thursday evening at&nbsp;Crypto.com&nbsp;Arena. The game tips at 7:00 p.m. on TNT.

DEFENSIVE CONSISTENCY = WINSAmongst several streaks of late, including 19 of 23 victories since Jan. 15, what stands out the most for the Lakers is the current 7-game winning stretch, with victories over POR, DEN, DAL, MIN, LAC, LAC and NOP.  The Lakers have a defensive rating of 106.2 during this period, tops in the NBA, and an offense that’s improving seemingly by the game, capped by a 136-point explosion against the Pelicans on Tuesday.The offense should continue to get sharper as the Lakers get more and more comfortable around Doncic, but the defense has been consistently good for nearly two months, and it’s leading to lots of wins.“It takes a while for a group to develop an identity,” said coach JJ Redick. “It takes a while for a group to develop a collective mentality. There’s been a lot of things that have happened this season. I felt like the group, our ecosystem was created, and it’s been sustained since mid-January. There were flashes of it throughout the early parts of the year, but I like who we are right now as a team.”“That's just us,” added LeBron. “I mean, it is who we are at this point. We hang our hat on our defense because you can't always understand or know what's going to happen offensively as far as your shooting or whatever the case may be … (defense is) going to give us a chance to win every night.”

DONCIC’S DISTRIBUTIONNow that Luka Doncic’s minutes limit has been lifted, he’s looking a lot like … well … Luka Doncic. In his last three games, he’s averaging 30.0 points, and has hit 14 3-pointers after totaling seven in his first four games as a Laker. But perhaps more impressive than his scoring has been his passing, with Lakers teammates often finding themselves completely wide open for dunks and layups or threes as the ball hits their hands.“(New Orleans) tried a bunch of different coverages on him – blitz, the red* and the drop,” said Redick after Tuesday’s win. “He solved every riddle. Again, we’re excited about the process when we get good shots, and I thought we were able to generate a lot of good shots tonight, and he was at the forefront of that.” *Red is Redick’s terminology for a switching defense.I asked Doncic how intentional that type of passing is for him, relative to how naturally it seems to come.“ Yeah, I think it's a little bit of both, like you said, reading the game and natural,” he replied. “I've been playing against blitzes a long time, so I know what to expect. And it's different teams, some teams, the low man is early, some teams not. Some teams give corners, some teams not. So just going through scouting and then pick up them.”Doncic has yet to play the Knicks this season, but there’s no doubt he’ll have seen whatever coverages they present.

SCOUTING THE KNICKSIt’s been just over a month since the Lakers beat the Knicks 128-112 in Madison Square Garden, with LeBron going off for a 33-point, 12-assist, 11-rebound triple-double, and Austin Reaves adding 27 points and six assists to the cause. The Lakers had a terrific game plan from Redick, focused on limiting the offensive touches for Jalen Brunson and Karl Anthony-Towns, while putting both All-Stars into defensive action on the other end of the floor.The Knicks have since gained one key rotation player, Mitchell Robinson, to help them on the glass and at protecting the rim. One of the best offensive rebounders in the NBA, Robinson grabbed four offensive boards in just 15 minutes of action against the Warriors on Tuesday.Towns missed Tuesday’s game due to personal reasons, but will be back for Thursday’s contest. The Knicks scored only 102 points against GSW without KAT, but their offense has struggled since the All-Star break, as they’ve averaged just 109.3 points per game after averaging 118.4 before the break. One reason: they’re converting 32.8% from three, relative to 37.6% before the break.Meanwhile, the Lakers are hopeful they’ll get Austin Reaves back – he’s listed as probable – after the starting guard missed the previous two games with a sore calf. Jordan Goodwin (ankle) and Rui Hachimura (knee) remain out.

New York Knicks at Los Angeles Lakers

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Three Things to Know: Lakers vs. Knicks, March 6, 2025

The Lakers (35-21) are set to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves (32-27) on Thursday evening at Crypto.comArena. The game tips at 7:30 p.m. on Spectrum SportsNet.LUKA ON THE GLASSLuka Doncic has now played five games since Christmas, and is understandably still getting his legs beneath him. It’s not a surprise that he’s yet to dial in completely from 3-point range, having converted 10 of 40 triples thus far (25.0%). But that hasn’t impacted his work on the backboards, where Doncic has grabbed 36 rebounds in his last three games alone, including a season-high 15 against his former team on Tuesday.His rebounding will be a key for the Lakers moving forward, as they’re playing fewer minutes with a pure center than many teams, thus relying more upon their guards and forwards to clean the glass. Doncic has also been extremely impressive as a passer, totaling 27 assists in those same three games. And he’s been very active defensively, amassing eight steals and three blocks against Charlotte, Denver and Dallas, in 33 minutes per game.The shot will undoubtedly come back to career averages soon, but in the meantime, Doncic is doing a lot of everything else to help the Lakers win games.DIFFERENT TIMESWhen the Lakers and Wolves met twice in December, the situation was far different for both teams. In the first game, a 109-80 loss on Dec. 2, the Lakers had seven players who have either been traded or are no longer in the primary rotation getting minutes. For example, D’Angelo Russell and Dalton Knecht started that game, with Maxwell Lewis and Cam Reddish both playing off the bench. In the rematch on Dec. 13, a 97-87 loss, LeBron didn’t play, and LA started Gabe Vincent and Austin Reaves alongside Max Christie.Fast forward to today, and the Lakers are relying upon several players who either weren’t yet on the roster, or were injured for those Wolves matchups: Luka Doncic, Dorian Finney-Smith, Jarred Vanderbilt and Jordan Goodwin.The Wolves, meanwhile, got big minutes from Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to key the wins against LA. But for tonight, Gobert and Randle have been ruled out with respective injuries, while DiVincenzo – who’s been out since Jan. 13 due to a left big toe sprain – is listed as questionable. 

WOLVES COMING OFF A HUGE COMEBACKIn Minnesota’s last game, they pulled off a 25-point comeback to beat Oklahoma City in overtime, including a wild 41-19 fourth quarter that forced the extra session. The Wolves have been good in the final period all season, outscoring opponents by 8.4 points in the fourth, while holding opponents to 89.5 points per 100 possessions.  Minnesota did benefit in part from OKC losing Isaiah Hartenstein after just 16 minutes, and due to Chet Holmgren taking the night off, but the comeback was impressive nonetheless. The Wolves’ pair of 2024 First Round picks, Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr., combined for 29 points off the bench. We’ll see if Chris Finch calls their number once again tonight.Generally, the Wolves have been carried by Anthony Edwards with Gobert, Randle and DiVincenzo injured. He’s averaged 32.1 points, 7.7 boards and 4.8 assists with 1.2 steals in February, with Minnesota going 5-5 in their last 10 games.

Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Lakers

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Three Things to Know: Lakers vs. Wolves, Feb. 27

The Lakers (34-21) blew out the Nuggets in Denver on Saturday, and return to Crypto.com Arena to face the Mavericks (31-27). The game tips at 7 p.m. on Spectrum SportsNet.LUKA BREAKS OUTIn his first three games as a Lakers, Luka Doncic, who hadn’t played since Christmas, was primarily focused on fitting into the team, and trying to do his part to produce wins. He was on a minutes limit, and while showing flashes of his typical brilliance, didn’t have a statistical breakout. That changed in Denver, after JJ Redick told his former teammate he was looking for a “blackout” moment. He got it, as Doncic scored 16 points in the first quarter – matching his high in the previous three games – before finishing with a team-high 32 points, plus 10 boards, seven assists and four steals in a 123-100 victory. “Great confidence,” Doncic said he drew from the game. “I (can't) remember when was the last time I won here. It's very tough to play here. Just to win like that, it's an amazing win for us and gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.”“Part of what makes him brilliant is he makes the game easy for everybody else,” added Redick.Up next is a matchup that could be a difficult one from an emotional standpoint for Doncic, as he faces his former teammates in Dallas. Luka will certainly have the full support of his new team, and his new city.SHOWING FINNEY-SMITH’S VALUEDorian Finney-Smith is about winning, more than anything else. He’s not thinking about his counting stats, which are as follows: 7.0 points, 3.3 boards and 1.3 assists in 25.8 minutes, not to mention his ranking of 17th in the NBA in 3-point accuracy, at 41.7%.Of course, there are a few stats the show a player’s value outside of the counting stats, including raw plus/minus. In Doe Doe’s 20 games with the Lakers, he is a team-best +163, meaning the Lakers have outscored opponents by 163 points when he’s been on the court. That’s an average of +8.2 per game, ahead of Doncic’s +7.3 in four games, and Austin Reaves’ +2.9 in 50 games.DFS gets the job done in multiple ways, serving as a quick connector and ball mover when he isn’t hitting 3’s or attacking closeouts on offense, and a versatile defender that can help on bigs in the paint and move his feet with wings and guards on the perimeter.SHORTHANDED MAVSBitten by the injury bug particularly in the frontcourt, Dallas has gone five games without Anthony Davis and Derrick Lively (who’s been out since Jan. 14), and four games without those two plus Daniel Gafford, leaving them playing the smallest lineup in the league at the moment. Nonetheless, they’ve gone 3-2 in their last five games.The Mavs beat Golden State, Miami and New Orleans, and lost to Sacramento and Golden State, most recently a 126-102 loss to the new-look Warriors on Sunday night.Max Christie returns to Los Angeles after eight impressive games in Dallas, where he’s averaging 15.3 points on 50.0% FG’s and 43.6% from 3 in 32.6 minutes per game. He was trending towards that level of play before the trade, so it’s nothing new to the Lakers.Due to all the injured bigs, the Mavs have been starting P.J. Washington, Kessler Edwards and Klay Thompson in the frontcourt, with Kyrie Irving and Dante Exum in the backcourt. They bring Christie, Olivier-Maxence Prosper, Spencer Dinwiddie and Jaden Hardy off the bench, with limited minutes for newly-signed 10-day player Moses Brown or former South Bay Lakers big man Kylor Kelley.