INDIANAPOLIS — The Lakers’ season was not going to be defined by a late March road trip. But when the games truly start to matter, the six games LA battled through could very well serve as a reference point.
On Wednesday, the purple and gold closed out its stint away from Crypto.com Arena with a win over the Pacers that was much more comfortable than the 137-130 final score would indicate. It was the punctuation on a trip in which they went 5-1, with the only loss coming to the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed in the Detroit Pistons.
Across those six games, the Lakers faced a myriad of challenges, both on and off the court. They found solutions for nearly all of them and, as a result, head back home with a real chance to finish the regular season on a high.
“This is the thing that we’ve talked about a bunch is just play the game in front of you and win the game in front of you,” head coach JJ Redick said. “It’s not about looking ahead. It’s more, ‘What does this game present?’ And each game on this trip presented a different problem that we had to solve and a different matchup nightmare that we had to solve and our guys did a great job of executing throughout the trip.”
The problems presented themselves in a myriad of ways. In Houston, it was athleticism. In Miami, it was sleep deprivation. In Detroit, it was physicality. In Indiana, it was the speed and pace of play.
But the Lakers found answers in different ways, too. The defense stepped up in Houston. Luka Dončić had a career night in Miami — and a career stretch of games during the road trip. Luke Kennard had the big shot in Orlando.
And on Monday, it was Bronny James who provided a spark.
Mar 25, 2026; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) shoots the ball over Indiana Pacers center Jay Huff (32) during the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images
The seldom-used sophomore guard parlayed his recent success in the G League into a rare appearance with the depleted parent Lakers. And they weren’t ceremonial minutes, but important ones that included a momentum-stopping jumper late in the fourth quarter to stem the tide of a Pacers run.
“He did a great job today,” Luka said of Bronny. “A big game from him. That pull-up two [in the fourth quarter], it was a big bucket. It was probably one of the most important shots of the game. They’re coming back, he hits that one. I think he did really great in those minutes.”
While Bronny is not the solution himself, he is emblematic of the Lakers’ ability to find answers. When the playoffs came around last season, they ran out of ideas quickly, bowing out in swift fashion as a result.
This season, the Lakers are a more resilient group with an ability and willingness to problem-solve, something they proved time and time again over the last week-and-a-half.
“I think we did a great job – even the game we lost that we could have won – I think just not giving up,” Luka said. “Numerous times, teams went on a run and we didn’t give up. We just kept at it.”
By keeping at it, the Lakers have positioned themselves for a strong finish. Of their final nine games, six are at home, seven are in California and only once will they have to leave the Pacific time zone. Games against Brooklyn, Washington, Dallas and Utah will match them up against tanking teams.
Following Wednesday’s results, they sit 1.5 games up on Denver, two games up on Minnesota and 3.5 games up on Houston with tiebreakers over all three teams.
Even with a game against OKC left on the schedule, the Lakers, should they simply take care of business in the final two weeks of the regular season, are primed to lock up the No. 3 seed for a second year in a row.
But if they’re to avoid the fate that followed last year’s team after the regular season ended, it’ll likely be performances like these six road games they can turn to in order to see their ride through the postseason last a little bit longer.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.