Episode Details

The Lakers showed a lot Monday night in their 104-98, even while the game was, to say the least, not a ton of fun to look at. Two teams, both playing extremely hard, both playing solid defense. 

But everyone knows at this point that, good as they are, the Rockets really can't score at an elite level. The Lakers, however, have Luka! They've got LeBron! Austin Reaves has been insanely good over the last 15 games! Points is their thing, right? Regular watchers of the team know that while that sort of potential is there, the Lakers haven't figured out how to make it happen every night. So Monday, they got into a game that was probably as close to ideal as Houston coach Ime Odoka could get. Dončić, James and Reaves combined for 48 points on 39 shots. Not exactly high end efficiency. 

But all three of them made critical defensive plays, and Luka's nine dimes helped provide a lot of the grease lubricating LA's offense. And the rest was provided through huge games from Dorian Finney-Smith (20 points, 6-11 from 3-point range) and Gabe Vincent (20 points, 6-13 from 3). Both of those guys shot a ton (for them) and shot the lights out because the Rockets stuck to a plan of forcing anyone but the stars to beat them. 

And they did! 

For teams to advance in the playoffs, they need to be able to win in a variety of ways. One dimensional squads, even when really good, can only hide for so long in the postseason because at some point, the matchups won't be in their favor, or a clever opposing coach will find a way to mitigate that one (really good!) dimension. Monday, the Lakers beat Houston playing Houston's style of basketball. They've won other games by running effectively, and plenty by defending well beyond what people expected. The Big Three didn't force the issue, they instead put faith in open players to make shots, and eventually it began to happen. 

The Lakers are still working to find their ceiling. They might not have enough time to get there. But they continue to uncover capabilities that will make them a harder out in the spring. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: An beautiful ugly win. 

SEGMENT 2: Dorian Finney-Smith Gabe Vincent!

SEGMENT 3: Challenges coming. 

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