RSS Lakers Team Notes

[Los Angeles Lakers]

Lakers Highlights: Luka Doncic & Austin Reaves Score 31 Each In Win Over Timberwolves

The schedule to close the 2025-26 season is a tough one for the Los Angeles Lakers as they face off against several playoff teams. The Lakers earned a hard-fought victory against the New York Knicks on Sunday but didn’t get much time to rest as they hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.

Los Angeles and Minnesota entered the matchup separated by just one game in the standings, though the former owns the regular season tiebreaker. With how close the Western Conference standings are, the Lakers could ill afford to drop a game to the Timberwolves who were clinging on to the third seed.

The first quarter was an offensive drought as both teams struggled to shoot the basketball. Fortunately, Los Angeles was able to catch a rhythm in the second quarter and went into the locker rooms at halftime tied 45-45.

The third quarter was a completely different story as the Laker offense finally erupted, scoring 39 points and building a large lead that they managed to hold on to in the fourth. Los Angeles won the game and picked up another quality win against a postseason-bound squad in Minnesota. This marks the third consecutive win for the Lakers and six of their last seven games.

Luka Doncic was one of the players that couldn’t get anything to fall down in the first quarter, but he eventually got himself back on track with a couple of shots at the rim. When Doncic wasn’t scoring, he was contributing on both ends of the floor and that helped Los Angeles extend its lead.

Doncic found it much easier to score in the second half as he had his jumper going, though he did have to fight through some pain as he bumped knees with players multiple times. Overall, Doncic remained productive against an elite defensive team as he recorded a triple-double of 31 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

Austin Reaves appeared to be heading for a rough game as he only managed to score two points in the first half, but he erupted in the second half. Reaves seemingly couldn’t miss in the second half, torching the Timberwolves from each level of the floor. Reaves had everything working for him as he even converted on a pair of four-point plays that kept Minnesota at bay.

Reaves almost recorded his own triple-double as he had 31 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.

The Lakers were shorthanded in the frontcourt, which meant that Deandre Ayton had to step up, and that’s exactly what he did. The big man had a double-double in the first half alone and wound up finishing with 14 points and 12 rebounds in the win.

What’s next for the Lakers​

The Lakers will look to keep their winning streak going when they host the Chicago Bulls on Thursday. They’ll then see the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.

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Source: https://lakersnation.com/lakers-hig...eaves-score-31-each-in-win-over-timberwolves/

 

[Los Angeles Lakers]

Luka Doncic Encouraged By Lakers’ Defense After Win Over Timberwolves

There have been major questions surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers’ ability to play championship-level defense with a team built around offensive-focused stars in Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James. But recently, the Lakers are showing that they are capable of defending at a high level, even against top offenses.

The Minnesota Timberwolves were the second straight top 10 scoring team the Lakers held well below their average in their 120-106 victory. The Lakers held the Timberwolves to just 68 points through three quarters and shut them down from deep as Minnesota shot just 25% from 3-point range.

Afterwards, Doncic was very happy with the Lakers’ effort defensively, praising Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton in particular, but feeling that the team as a whole was excellent on that end of the court.

“It was very encouraging and very special to play this game,” Luka said. “I think everybody that stepped on the court did an amazing job. Everybody fought til the end and that’s how we got this win… I think [the Lakers’ energy & effort] was collective. Obviously Smart is our leader in that and did a great job. I think DA today was amazing for us. Outside of that I think we collectively did it all. And obviously they push us too and I think we did an amazing job today.”

Perhaps most impressive was the job the Lakers did on Anthony Edwards, the NBA’s second-leading scorer who shot just 2-of-15 from the field, finishing with only 14 points, less than half of his season average. Luka again mentioned Smart, but also reminded that it takes a team effort to corral someone like Edwards

“A lot,” Doncic responded when asked what it takes to contain Edwards. “Obviously it starts with Smart he was starting on him, but for guys like that you need the whole team to stop him it’s not just one guy, so I think we did a great job. Like I said obviously it started with Smart, but a lot of times it’s tough to stop players like that and we did a great job today.”

It wasn’t just on this night, but the past couple of weeks overall that the Lakers have reached another level on defense and an important reason for this in the eyes of Doncic is the improved communication.

“Probably just effort and communication,” he added. “I think communication is very important on the defensive end. I think we’re talking to each other a lot so that helps everybody to get to their spots on the defensive end.”

With Doncic, Reaves and James, the Lakers will be able to keep up with most teams offensively, but it is their ability to get stops that will determine how far they can go in the playoffs. If they can continue to defend at this level, the Lakers could go much further than people expect.

Lakers coach JJ Redick praises Deandre Ayton for performance vs. Timberwolves​

Another big reason for the Lakers’ victory and improvement defensively has been the play of center Deandre Ayton and head coach JJ Redick praised him for his ‘fantastic’ performance against the Timberwolves.

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Source: https://lakersnation.com/luka-doncic-encouraged-by-lakers-defense-after-win-over-timberwolves/

 

[Los Angeles Lakers]

Lakers News: Bam Adebayo Discusses What Kobe Bryant Would Say To Him After Scoring 83 Points

Over 20 years ago, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant had the basketball world glued to the team’s game against the Toronto Raptors. In a normal regular season game, Bryant had everyone’s eyes on him as he made history by scoring 81 points in the win against the Raptors.

Los Angeles found themselves trailing at halftime, but Bryant erupted in the second half and walked away with the second-highest scoring game in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points. For decades, Bryant’s 81-point game stood as the highest scoring total in the modern era, but that finally was broken after Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo dropped 83 points in a win against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night.

Adebayo has improved offensively every year since entering the league, but no one could have predicted he would be the one to surpass Bryant. Some might point to the fact that the Washington Wizards had no desire to win the game as they look to secure a high draft pick, but it’s still an impressive feat for Adebayo to score 83 points in regulation.

Following his historic accomplishment, Adebayo discussed what it means for him to surpass Bryant’s 81 points, via Naveen Ganglani of Five Reasons Sports:

“To me it’s wondering what he’d say. Seeing somebody…obviously you’ve seen 60, 70 but like to be 83 & you pass him, my mind is like, ‘What would he say to me?’ Cause I’ve always wanted to have a conversation with him. He’ll probably say, ‘Do it again.’ But just a surreal moment being in the company with somebody you idolized growing up.”

Like a lot of other NBA superstars across the league, including Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker who stills misses Bryant, Adebayo grew up watching Kobe lead the Lakers to several championships. Bryant set the standard for competitiveness and coupled it with a relentless aggression that made him a legend for the next generation of players.

The way that the game is played today, it’s only a matter of time before someone ends up surpassing Adebayo. Bryant surely would have appreciated Adebayo’s performance and it’ll be interesting to see who etches their name in history next.

Michael Jordan weighs in on comparisons to LeBron James and Kobe Bryant​

Kobe Bryant is most often compared to Michael Jordan because of their competitive drive and similar play styles. When it comes to the GOAT debate, it often comes down to LeBron James and Jordan with Bryant often being mentioned as well.

However, Jordan weighed in on the GOAT debate and said it’s a meaningless conversation for him because he didn’t get a chance to play against all the greats in his prime.

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Source: https://lakersnation.com/lakers-new...-means-to-surpass-kobe-bryants-81-point-game/