-
Dave McMenamin
LOS ANGELES– After the Lakers liquidated their final house online game of the traditional interval by directing the Rockets 140-109 on Friday night to safe theNo 3 seed within the Western Conference, Austin Reaves joked that the group’s mission, generally, appeared like 5 intervals in a single.
All the ups and downs and weave Los Angeles sustained given Reaves with high quality as he anticipated the postseason.
“I feel like we could win a championship, to be honest with you,” Reaves said.
Luka Doncic, that racked up 39 components on 13-of-19 capturing by way of 3 quarters Friday, concurred with Reaves.
“That’s our only goal,” Doncic said. “I think we have the team to do it.”
The Lakers ensured to understand their success Friday night.
Coach JJ Redick wanted to grow to be a kelly environment-friendly Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt previous to his postgame press convention after being taken within the storage locker area as avid gamers pounded him with ice pails to commemorate the group’s fiftieth win.
“The whole locker room is literally water,” Rui Hachimura said with a smile. “Straight water.”
Hachimura said Redick knowledgeable the group that after he was labored with in June, leaving a rising job as an NBA broadcaster and podcaster, he established 2 targets for himself: to win 50 video video games and to safeguard theNo 3 seed; 76 of the NBA’s 78 champs had been theNo 3 seed or a lot better.
On Friday, he accomplished each.
“Just incredibly proud of our team,” Redick said after excusing the $17,000 in issues he approximated the Lakers created to the storage locker area rug. “It’s an accomplishment to win 50 games in the regular season in any year. I think particularly in this year, in this Western Conference, it is. And it’s a credit to our players. Each one at different points in time has contributed to winning. They’ve all participated in a winning culture.”
Though Doncic has really grow to be Los Angeles’ best gamer down the stretch, this Lakers group reached this issue with LeBron James blazing a path for the earlier 7 years.
James, that left the online game after putting in 14 components and eight helps in 22 minutes previous to displaying as much as fine-tune his left hip/groin location, is “fine,” in accordance withRedick The 22-year skilled left the sector with out speaking to press reporters but congratulated the team with an article on X after the online game.
“Man I was going to say something but it’s useless at this point in my career!” James created. “Anyways more important CONGRATULATIONS JJ on a 50 win season in the WEST & Post Season nod!”
Though it’s unsure what James was particularly describing when he created that he wished to “say something,” earlier Detroit Pistons great Isiah Thomas had really slammed him for present process his particular person train 5 hours previous to tipoff with out a t shirt on all through NBA tv’s insurance coverage protection of the online game.
“I just totally, 100% object to this,” Thomas said when the digital cameras revealed James’ very early pregame routine. “I just think the professionalism in our NBA league has diminished so much.”
It is moreover unsure which group Los Angeles will definitely encounter within the preliminary. The Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets all have a possibility to safeguard theNo 6 seed within the West, and safe the Lakers as a challenger, heading proper into the final 2 days of the traditional interval this weekend break.
For at present, the Lakers will definitely make a journey to play the Portland Trail Blazers within the regular-season ending Sunday– and will certainly maintain up the mass of their turning avid gamers– and after which have every week off previous to organizing Game 1 of their first-round assortment subsequent weekend break.
“The good part of the season is coming, so you got to stay ready, got to stay locked in, but for sure, the rest is going to be great for me,” Doncic said.
It will definitely be the very first time the Lakers open the playoffs with a house online game on condition that 2010-11, Phil Jackson’s final interval as teacher. The Lakers had been theNo 1 seed in 2019-20, but the postseason was performed within the NBA bubble in Orlando, Florida.
And they are going to definitely have theNo 1 all-time playoff components scorer in James and theNo 2 gamer in playoff racking up customary in Doncic.
“It’s not just me and LeBron,” Doncic said. “We have a great team around us; everybody helps us in so many ways. So if we want to win the championship, it’s going to take all of us.”
