The Lakers finished an uneven road trip on a high note with consecutive wins at New Orleans and Milwaukee, salvaging a 3-2 record on the trip after a 119-95 win over the Bucks on Saturday. The only thing that seemed to excite the players more than the victory was what waited for them after the nine-day journey.
“Let’s go homeee,” forward Jake LaRavia posted on his Instagram story.
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Here are five takeaways after the five-game road trip:
Lakers recapture their magic
Laker Deandre Ayton fouls Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo on Saturday in Milwaukee. (Morry Gash / Associated Press)
Deandre Ayton took credit for the postgame locker room’s Frank Sinatra soundtrack, but JJ Redick had Jay-Z on his mind. After wrapping up a grueling trip, one of Redick’s first thoughts was Jay-Z’s track “A Week Ago,” which begins with the lyric: “It was all good just a week ago.”
A week ago, the Lakers were 7-2. They were riding the high of a five-game winning streak heading into practice in Atlanta.
Then things turned sour.
The Lakers (10-4) were blown out against Atlanta and Oklahoma City on this trip. They played about one good half of basketball in their first three games. But during the most demanding part of the stretch, the Lakers rallied to find themselves again with critical wins against the Pelicans and Bucks.
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Read more: Luka Doncic scores 41 as Lakers rout Milwaukee Bucks to cap 3-2 trip
“This is the NBA,” Redick told reporters. “And you gotta find moments to recapture what makes you a good basketball team. And I think over the last 24 hours we’ve done that.”
Redick credited Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves for continuing to lead the team through choppy waters Saturday. Despite the team arriving in Milwaukee at 3 a.m. on Saturday morning and Doncic playing 40 minutes the night before in New Orleans, the superstar guard was still diving on the floor for a loose ball in the second quarter. He pushed the ball ahead to Reaves, who found Ayton for a layup.
As Doncic becomes more comfortable with his teammates, his leadership has shown through not only his play but his sarcastic personality, which has helped develop a strong bond.
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“It’s great chemistry,” Doncic told reporters. “When I came, I was probably a little more quiet, trying to get to know people. But right now, I’m just being myself, just joking around a lot, trash-talking. So I think one of the biggest things for the team to win is have a great chemistry, and I think we have that.”
Doncic’s MVP campaign rolls along
The Lakers’ Luka Doncic drives past the Bucks’ Gary Harris on Saturday in Milwaukee. (Morry Gash / Associated Press)
With 41 points, nine rebounds and six assists against Milwaukee, Doncic collected his fourth 40-point games this season, equaling his total for such games all of last year.
He leads the league with 34.4 points per game and officially became eligible for the leaderboard after playing in his 10th game Saturday. His points and 8.9 rebounds per game are close to his production in 2023-24 when he led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals and finished third in most valuable player voting with 33.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. He is doing it despite shooting a 32.7% from three-point range, his worst mark since his second season.
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Reinforcements are on the way
Lakers forward Lebron James is expected to return to the lineup soon. (Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
LeBron James is expected to return to the practice court with the Lakers on Monday after a productive test stint with the South Bay Lakers. He could make his season debut as soon as Tuesday against the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena in the Lakers’ only game this week.
James is the only standard contract player still awaiting to make his debut after the Lakers got forwards Maxi Kleber and Adou Thiero back on the court during the trip. Kleber, who was sidelined with an abdominal strain, has played in three games. He made his first shot of the season in the win over Milwaukee while playing 25 minutes with three points and three assists.
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The rookie Thiero also made his debut against the Bucks, scoring four points and punctuating his first NBA appearance with an emphatic two-handed dunk in the final minute. It showed the type of athleticism and activity the Lakers were looking for when they drafted him in the second round. He also grabbed one offensive rebound during the first half that led to Kleber’s three-pointer.
Guard Gabe Vincent (ankle) is still out and is approaching three weeks since he turned his ankle against the Sacramento Kings. The original timetable for his return was two to four weeks.
Shooting slumps
Lakers guard Gabe Vincent throws a lob pass to center Deandre Ayton for an alley-oop dunk against the Kings on Oct. 26. (Sara Nevis / Associated Press)
Vincent’s eventual return could help the Lakers with one of their most glaring offensive deficiencies: three-point shooting.
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The Lakers rank 25th in three-point shooting at just 33.8%. Their 32.4 three-point attempts per game rank 26th in the league. It’s a far cry from the 40.4 threes they attempted in the games after Doncic joined the team last year.
Part of the shooting slump could be Reaves’ early struggles from three-point range. Outside of his six for 10 night that led to a career-high 51 points against Sacramento, Reaves, who missed three games with a groin injury, was shooting 26.4% from three this season.
He then caught fire in the second half against the Bucks, making five threes. While finishing with 25 points and eight assists, he made three consecutive three-pointers to open the fourth quarter that Doncic called some of the most important shots of the game.
“It was good to get something to go down,” Reaves told reporters. “… Hopefully we continue to shoot the ball well.”
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Pick up the pace
The Bucks’ Bobby Portis and the Lakers’ Luka Doncic battle for a loose ball on Saturday in Milwaukee. (Morry Gash / Associated Press)
The Lakers are second-to-last in transition possessions per game and transition possession percentage. Redick was puzzled as to why the team played so slowly when asked about its pace before the Charlotte game. He said the pace was “literally the first thing we emphasize in every film session.”
But on the second night of a back-to-back, Redick acknowledged the team, considering its personnel, was simply not going to be a fast team. However, he still identified markers of success. Before Saturday’s game, Redick told the players the team was 9-1 when it scored 12 or more transition points and 8-0 with 24 or more assists.
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“I think there’s a formula here for throwing the ball ahead and sharing the basketball,” Redick said. “And they were good again with that tonight.”
The Lakers had 12 fast break points and 23 assists against the Bucks.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
