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Luka Don\u010di\u0107 is a central figure for the Lakers as they aim for a lengthy 2026 playoff run.<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles Lakers had just beaten the Houston Rockets on March 16 in the first of back-to-back road games against Houston.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to play with a playoff mentality this time of year,\u201d Lakers coach JJ Redick said.<\/p>\n
The Lakers beat Houston two nights later during a nine-game winning streak<\/a> that also included victories against the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat and Orlando Magic.<\/p>\n In the past month, the question shifted from folly (are the Lakers better with LeBron James on the bench?) to serious (are the Lakers putting it together at the right time for a deep playoff run?) as they climbed from sixth place to third in the Western Conference<\/a>.<\/p>\n With health on the Lakers\u2019 side as the regular season morphs into the playoffs, Redick has found a productive starting lineup with Luka Don\u010di\u0107, Austin Reaves and Marcus Smart in the backcourt and LeBron James and Deandre Ayton in the frontcourt. The bench rotation includes Luke Kennard, Rui Hachimura, Jake LaRavia, Jaxon Hayes \u2013 and Bronny James, too (in limited situations).<\/p>\n The Lakers are 50-26, 1 1\/2 games ahead of the fourth-place Denver Nuggets and eight games behind the second-place San Antonio Spurs. Since losing to the Phoenix Suns on Feb. 26, the Lakers are 16-2 with the No. 3 offensive rating<\/a> (121.6 points per 100 possessions), ninth-best defense<\/a> (111.4 points allowed per 100 possessions) and fourth-best net rating<\/a> (plus-10.2 points per 100 possessions).<\/p>\n \u2018Got to continue to improve\u2019<\/p>\n How far can the Lakers go in the West come playoff time?<\/p>\n Sure, one can counter the past 18 games with the Lakers\u2019 5-7 December or 6-6 February. That\u2019s fair. But the results post-All-Star break are more than noteworthy.<\/p>\n Who\u2019s going to dismiss Los Angeles automatically? Especially when it\u2019s Don\u010di\u0107, James, the Lakers and the intrigue they bring.<\/p>\n The Lakers get a measuring-stick game against the best team in the West Thursday night when they visit the Oklahoma City Thunder (9:30 p.m. ET, Prime Video<\/a>).<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve still got to continue to improve,\u201d James said. \u201cWe know what we\u2019re capable of, but we will not shortcut the process, and the process is finishing the regular season strong. \u2026 We\u2019ve got a road trip coming up. When the postseason gets here, we will attack that as its own individual season.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in a good place right now. The chemistry is high. Everyone loves being around each other. We love playing for one another. We love being off the floor with one another. It\u2019s a good, tight-knit group.\u201d<\/p>\n While it\u2019s never one thing for a team\u2019s rise, Don\u010di\u0107\u2019s performance \u2013 perhaps his best stretch with the Lakers since joining them<\/a> in a 2025 trade \u2013 gives the Lakers a massive offensive advantage.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s playing as well as anybody in the NBA right now,\u201d Redick said after Don\u010di\u0107 had 51 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, three steals and one block in a March 12 victory against the Chicago Bulls.<\/p>\n Don\u010di\u0107 averages an NBA-best 33.8 points<\/a> plus 8.3 assists, 7.8 rebounds, 1.7 steals while shooting 47.7% overall, 36.8% on 3-pointers and 77.9% on free throws. During this 16-2 stretch, he averages a team-high 36.8 ppg<\/a> \u2013 a point per minute played \u2013 and the Lakers score an impressive 123.9 points per 100 possessions when he\u2019s on the court.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s been high-volume, high-efficiency (3-point shooter) for about 2 1\/2months now. It\u2019s so important,\u201d Redick said. \u201cIt just sets up the rest of his game when he\u2019s making 3s, and it obviously gives us life. It can be a kill shot some nights. It can be a run-stopper some nights.\u201d<\/p>\n LeBron embraces a new role in L.A.<\/p>\n LeBron James finishes with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in a win over the Wizards.<\/p>\n The Don\u010di\u0107-Reaves-James lineup is working, too. Since Feb. 27, Los Angeles has been:<\/p>\n 12-2 and outscoring opponents by 9.1 points per game when all three are on the court. James has taken fewer shots per game than both, and his usage rate is 25.7, the lowest of his career. But to call him the third option is a misnomer because of the attention he draws as well as his ability to score 30, record triple-doubles and remain efficient.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool to know that I\u2019m at this point in my career, and I\u2019m still able to do those things,\u201d James said. \u201cIt\u2019s super dope. It\u2019s super humbling. Just continue to put the work in and those are the results of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Yes, James\u2019 role is different. That\u2019s not surprising, and James is good with it. He is 41 years old after all.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s been a high-usage player and the No. 1 option his whole career,\u201d Redick said. \u201cI know he wants to win, and he wants to do everything possible to help this team win even if it looks a little differently.<\/p>\n \u201cHe had to make some sacrifices when we traded for Luka last year, and he understands how important it is for Luka and AR to have time on the ball. The realistic thing is when they\u2019re on the court together, that\u2019s going to take away time on the ball for him.\u201d<\/p>\n Said James: \u201cIf it benefits others, it benefits the team. The team is most important. Everybody\u2019s successful when we win. So yeah, it is a sacrifice. I know what I\u2019m capable of still doing as an individual, but I\u2019m able to adapt to what\u2019s important for this team.\u201d<\/p>\n Add in the productive play of Ayton and Smart, who led the Lakers in plus-minus at plus-11.5 points per game in March, along with solid bench play, and the Lakers are one of the hottest teams of late. That group also includes the Thunder, Nuggets, Spurs, Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics.<\/p>\n Redick recently referenced the Lakers\u2019 record when Hachimura plays this season (44-18), which is about a 58-win pace.<\/p>\n \u201cThat tells you all you need to know,\u201d Redick said of Hachimura, who averages 11.2 ppg while shooting 51% overall and 43.6% on 3-pointers. \u201cHis ability to space the floor (and) his size, it\u2019s so important for our team and our rotation.\u201d<\/p>\n Kennard leads the league<\/a> in 3-point shooting (49.1%), and Hayes\u2019 value as a rim protector and screen-and-roll big man is on display.<\/p>\n The Lakers have found solutions that have stumped opponents. It\u2019s an encouraging development for them.<\/p>\n But the larger question looms later this month and possibly in May: How does that translate in a seven-game playoff series against teams such as Houston, Denver, Minnesota, San Antonio or Oklahoma City?<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at\u00a0jzillgitt@nba.com<\/a>, find\u00a0his archive here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0follow him on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Luka Don\u010di\u0107 is a central figure for the Lakers as they aim for a lengthy 2026 playoff run.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":580842,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,284651,590,85],"class_list":["post-580841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-lakers-title-contender-2026","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nScoring a combined 76.8 points per game with Reaves\u2019 21.3 and James\u2019 18.7.<\/p>\n