Episode Details

These are heady times for Lakers fans, following Sunday's Luka Dončić-fueled, 108-102 win over the Clippers at the Crypt. It's the second straight win over a good Clippers squad, and was enough to push the Lakers into second place in the Western Conference, percentage points ahead of the Denver Nuggets. 

This is not a place anyone would have expected the Lakers to be eight weeks ago. 

The pace of change has been incredible. First, the Lakers get LeBron James engaged defensively following that debacle of a loss in Miami. They trade D'Angelo Russell for Dorian Finney-Smith. Jarred Vanderbilt returned. They slowly add even more grit to the roster, adding Trey Jemison III and Jordan Goodwin to the roster. 

Oh, they also acquired Luka. 

The instant reaction to the big trade said the Lakers were setting themselves up for the future at the expense of today. That the loss on defense was going to be way too much for this group to overcome in the short term. Except the Lakers team has already started playing well defensively even before the trade, and continued playing good defense even without Davis in the lineup. They were supposed to struggle while Dončić got integrated into the lineup, a process that was going to be overly complex, given the ball dominance of Luka, LeBron and Austin Reaves. And so on and so on and so on. 

Except none of it has played out that way. Through all the changes, the Lakers have grown more cohesive, not less. They've played harder, and ramped up the buy in. They're doing things good teams do, starting with playing consistently and executing effectively even when guys are in and out of the lineup, as it was Sunday with Reaves and Rui Hachimura in street clothes. They're winning in bulk, with victories in 16 of their last 21 games. And now they're in a dead heat with the Nuggets for the 2-seed out West. 

With a 6.5 game lead on the trio of teams tied for the 6-seed, the conversation has moved past "avoid the play in," and the Lakers are now square in the "earn home court for a round or two." 

Again, a remarkable turnaround. There are plenty of challenges coming, and the schedule doesn't get any easier. 

But this is a Lakers team that believes in itself, and has backed that belief with results. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers beat the Clips again, behind a big game from Luka. 

SEGMENT 2: Things are really, really looking up. 

SEGMENT 3: Dalton Knecht has a big game. 

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