The Los Angeles Lakers are running out of room to chase the third seed and now sound like a team preparing for what comes next. After blowout road losses in Oklahoma City and Dallas through the first two games of April, the Lakers were beaten 123-87 by the Thunder on Tuesday as LeBron James sat out with left foot injury management and Marcus Smart missed his eighth straight game with a right ankle contusion.
JJ Redick said before the game that the group needed to get back to being good on both sides of the ball, and that effort had to improve because players would not be able to guard if they did not run back. He said the Lakers no longer controlled their destiny for the third seed and were on a collision course with the Houston Rockets for a 4-5 matchup in the Western Conference first round. Redick’s blunt shift in tone matched the standings math. The winner of that series would likely face the defending champion Thunder in the semifinals.
That is where the pressure starts to sharpen. The Lakers roster has 18 players, but Drew Timme, Nick Smith Jr. and Chris Mañon are on two-way contracts and are not postseason eligible, leaving 13 Lakers competing for nine rotation spots. James is 41 years old and remains the best healthy player on the Lakers entering the postseason, but the numbers around him are uneven: the Lakers are 0-4 this season when he attempts more than 20 shots, and he is shooting 30.9 percent from 3-point range.
Read Also: Luke Kennard steps into point guard role as Lakers lose to Mavericks
The injuries around him have made the lineup harder to trust. Luka Dončić has missed time with a left hamstring injury, Austin Reaves has been out with a left oblique injury, and Smart’s absence has left a defensive hole that the team has felt on both ends. When Smart has been on the floor, the Lakers have allowed 110.9 points per 100 possessions; when he has been off, that number rises to 118.0. Redick said Smart was day-to-day and on track to return later in the week.
For a team that opened April with back-to-back blowout road losses, the focus has turned from chasing a number in the standings to getting the right five on the floor when the playoffs begin. Redick said the Lakers have a unique situation and need to prepare the group that will actually be available in a playoff series. The next four games, and the week leading into Game 1, now look less like a race for seeding and more like an audition for survival.
Read Also: Lakers Score: Mavericks deny error in Austin Reaves MRI dispute
Kennard has given the Lakers one possible answer. In two starts at point guard over the previous two games, he had 20 assists and three turnovers, and he recorded the first career triple-double in Dallas. But he also missed nine of 11 3-pointers in three April games, a reminder that even the steadier options have been inconsistent. Redick said after Tuesday’s game that the team would simply play the five that is all-in that day. That is not a playoff plan built on certainty. It is one built on whatever health the Los Angeles Lakers can get back in time.
