Lakers

Lakers look to carry In-Season title into the real thing

December 11, 2023

What’s next for the Los Angeles Lakers?

Well, how about Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks? That happens on Tuesday night in Texas, though Kyrie Irving is injured (again). In fact, of the Lakers’ next seven games, six are on the road.

So it’s safe to say they will need to leave the In-Season Tournament title in the dust. That run, while impressive, meant little in the standings. They would be 14-9 no matter what you called the games — tournament, regular season, whatever.

And one thing no media member in Las Vegas asked was how LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the rest of the Lakers can use that In-Season title to help fuel what the entire basketball-loving universe considers a much bigger deal, and that would be the actual playoffs.

For instance, the tournament title win over the Indiana Pacers didn’t even count in the regular-season standings. But the lessons the Lakers perhaps learned in the process can be carried over.

Namely, when people other than just James and Davis are cooking, they can be pretty good. Austin Reaves scored 28 in the championship game. D’Angelo Russell seemed to step up in many of the others. Taurean Prince did his thing on defense and Cam Reddish contributed in multiple underrated ways.

But until the last week or so, the Lakers’ season could best be described as uneven, or like a wild ride on the unkind seas. Just when they’d start to get high, they’d lose to the 76ers by 44 points (which is what happened on Nov. 28).

Nonetheless, they’ve won five of six since that point, including four straight.

In another month, no one will care that the Lakers were In-Season Tournament champs. It is indeed kind of cool to be the first at something, and as James said, LA will always have that. Still, it will be what they do from here on out that truly matters.

How equipped are they to contend for the real title? We’re about to find out.