DENVER — “It was all good just a week ago.”
In his postgame debrief after the Los Angeles Lakers’ 20-point loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday, coach JJ Redick quoted Jay-Z’s song “A Week Ago” to his team. The message was intended to remind his group that on March 7, as they traveled east for a four-game road trip, they were riding high on an eight-game win streak and had been one of the league’s best teams for almost two months.
A week later, the road trip finished an abject disaster. The Lakers went 0-4 and have since dropped from No. 2 to No. 5 in the Western Conference standings. LeBron James suffered a groin injury that is expected to keep him out until next week, if not longer.
Redick called out the team’s effort, communication and focus after an embarrassing loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Monday. They could barely field their rotation by the end of their voyage.
The cherry on top was when it looked as if the shorthanded Lakers — missing six of its top eight players in James, Luka Dončić, Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes, Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent — returned west and were going to improbably shock the Denver Nuggets and steal the final game of the road trip. A couple of miscues, however, resulted in an 8-0 Denver run over the final 48 seconds to ice the game. The Nuggets beat the depleted Lakers by five on Friday, sending the Lakers back home with a sour taste in their mouths.
This trip was supposed to be a measuring stick for the Lakers, with matchups against three of the league’s elite teams in mid-March. Instead, it became a trip they’d rather forget.
“We went 0-4, so it’s a pretty bad trip,” Austin Reaves said. “But s—, JJ said a week ago, ‘Everybody’s, like, Lakers in five.’ We just don’t listen to any of it. We know when we’re fully healthy and got everybody on the team that we have a really good chance to beat anybody. I just see this group coming together, locking in on one common goal, and that’s to win.
“I think (Friday was) the biggest testament to that. Very shorthanded and went and played a really good basketball team with, probably, the best player in the world and went toe-to-toe and had an opportunity to win it and just didn’t execute the last 50 seconds. I guess that’s what you take positive.”
Before the loss to the Bucks, the Lakers sent James, Hachimura, Hayes and Maxi Kleber back to Los Angeles to rest and recover. Redick called James, Hachimura and Hayes “day-to-day,” though he also noted that they could return within the next three days to a week, “if not a little bit longer than that for one guy.” That player appears to be James, though Redick did not specify.
Three days from Friday would knock out the trio from Sunday’s game against Phoenix and potentially Monday’s game against San Antonio — two games that are suddenly must-wins for the Lakers if they want to avoid No. 6 Golden State and No. 7 Minnesota nipping at their heels.
One of the silver linings of Friday’s performance was the opportunity it gave to several players, including Reaves (37 points, eight rebounds, 13 assists and four steals) and Dalton Knecht (32 points, his second-highest total of the season). Those two carried the offense, but they also had help from Shake Milton (16 points), Jarred Vanderbilt (nine points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals), Jordan Goodwin (10 points and six rebounds) and Christian Koloko (eight points and seven rebounds). Bronny James played a season-high 16 minutes and looked confident and comfortable with the group.
“I think if you’re looking to make a long playoff run, that’s like another third of the season, and (with) the intensity of playoff games, every possession is significant,” Redick said pregame. “You may have guys banged up in the playoffs and someone who may not be in a playoff rotation may need to come in and help you win a basketball game. That’s nights like (Friday). I did it, you know, my first three years. You’re not in the rotation every night, but when your number’s called, you gotta play well. You gotta play hard and, hopefully, you earn some trust.”
After the game, Redick confirmed that multiple players earned increased trust with the coaching staff.
“It certainly is a reference point,” he said of Friday. “Again, the trust is maintained and sustained when it’s consistent. I thought a lot of guys played at a really high level of energy and fight. When they are able to do that consistently, that trust is going to be there long-term.”
At the same time, there are no moral victories for the Lakers this late in the season. They have proven the post-January group can compete with just about anyone and belongs in the contention conversation once you get past Boston, Oklahoma City and Cleveland. Their standards are higher; they expect to beat the Nets, Bucks and Nuggets without James — or anyone else — no matter how delusional it seems from the outside looking in.
The Lakers return to Los Angeles for a five-game homestand, though it’s not as pleasant as it sounds considering they play two sets of back-to-backs — the first of which starts at 12:30 p.m. PT on Sunday, roughly 36 hours after they get back from their nine-day road trip. The Lakers host the Suns and Spurs in a back-to-back, then the Nuggets and Bucks in a back-to-back, before closing out the homestand with a game against the Chicago Bulls. Then, it’s back on the road for a four-game trip to Orlando, Indiana, Chicago and Memphis.
James’ absence looms large, especially with the Nuggets and Bucks on the slate again. The Lakers have the sixth-hardest remaining schedule, according to Tankathon, and every game James misses is one they can theoretically lose. Potentially getting Hachimura and Hayes back should help bolster their depleted frontcourt, adding size, length and athleticism. The Lakers have sorely missed both.
In the meanwhile, the Lakers are just trying to remain above water in the perilous West. Redick rejected the premise of aiming for home-court advantage and said the goal is to simply advance to the postseason.
“We gotta figure out a way to get in the playoffs, and that’s my focus,” Redick said. “We need to get some more wins to be in the playoffs.”
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(Photo of Austin Reaves: Isaiah J. Downing / Imagn Images)
