1 day Ago By Khobi Price
LOS ANGELES — Before the Lakers’ loss to the Clippers on Sunday night at Intuit Dome , Coach JJ Redick spoke about the team having a discussion about raising their collective standards and expectations. Four days later, they had a performance that could help reinforce those standards in the second half of the season. The Lakers had their best win of the season on Thursday night with a dominant 117-96 home victory over the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics .
It was one of the Lakers’ rare performances of strong two-way play for nearly the entire game. “As much as this game could be about reinforcing and establishing those standards that we tried to as a group for 42 games,” Redick said, “Hopefully, there’s some reinforcement, maybe some establishment, [of] some belief that gets reinforced here about what we can be and how good we can be.” The timing of the victory was also noteworthy, with the Lakers’ star players making their desires for the roster known.
ESPN reported on Wednesday that LeBron James and Anthony Davis want the Lakers to “make moves to contend for a championship,” with the star duo believing the team is “a piece or two” away from being contenders. The report came after James said on Sunday that the Lakers don’t have much room for error on the court, citing the team’s roster construction. Davis, essentially, doubled down on the report on the record, telling ESPN’s Shams Charania in an interview that was released ahead of Thursday’s game : “I think we need another big.
I feel like I’ve always been at my best when I’m the [power forward].” Davis elaborated after Thursday’s win on the advantages he believes the Lakers have when he’s the power forward in a double-big lineup. “Defensively, just bringing another big out there, we’ve seen it with Jaxson [Hayes], we’re a little bit more disruptive,” Davis said.
“Offensively, it just allows me to float around a little bit more. I only started playing [center] in 2021. I’d have stretches, but I was primarily a [power forward].
“So my whole career I’ve been playing [power forward]. And we’ve seen how I play. I just feel a little bit more effective [at power forward].
I mean, [playing center] has its advantages and disadvantages. But the front office knows that. I’ve told them that every year I’ve been here.
So, it’s nothing new. But I just feel like, personally, I’m a better player at [power forward].” Davis’ comments came exactly two weeks ahead of the Feb.
6 trade deadline. “No reaction,” Redick said of Davis’ comments. “I mean the reality is that’s not a new report.
I got the job [seven] months ago. So I know that. I’ve followed this team since I retired.
It’s not a big deal. Those guys wanna win, we wanna win. And again, it’s a challenging environment to just go out and make trades.
Feel very fortunate that we’re able to execute and get someone like Dorian Finney-Smith on our team. And we’ll continue to look over the next couple of weeks.” The Lakers (24-18) will kick off their annual “Grammy” road trip with Saturday’s game against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
Defensive-minded forward Jarred Vanderbilt could make his return to the floor against the Warriors after being sidelined for nearly a year because of troubles with his feet. The Lakers’ trip will continue with matchups against the Charlotte Hornets (Monday), Philadelphia 76ers (Tuesday), Washington Wizards (Thursday), New York Knicks (Feb. 1) and then a game against the Clippers (Feb.
4) in Inglewood. “We always want to have a championship mindset,” Davis said. “We always want it to be attainable.
Our front office is, obviously, working. [General Manager] Rob [Pelinka] is working on trying to better the team. But for us, it’s about going out and playing.
Whether something happens or not, we have to go out and compete with whatever is in this locker room. “We’re gonna go on the trip. Not sure what’s gonna happen.
I know [Pelinka] is always working on the phones. But at the end of the day, we can’t try to wait on anything. We gotta go out and compete and do what we gotta do to win basketball games.
” When: Saturday, 5:30 p.m. Where: Chase Center, San Francisco TV/radio: ABC (Ch.
7)/710 AM.
