Are Lakers in position to start rolling again? Injured LeBron 'ramping up.'
LOS ANGELES — LeBron James missed his fourth straight game on Sunday with a groin injury, yet there was no panic at Crypto.com Arena.
Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick, when asked about the James, said, “We’re ramping up. He’s day-to-day’’
His teammates appear to be ramping up, too, and on Sunday seized the day after James took some shots in the morning before chanting into street clothes..
The Lakers snapped a four-game losing streak with a 107-96 victory over the Phoenix Suns. With the playoffs a month away, the victory also provided some reassurance after the team slipped from the No. 2 seed to the No. 5 seed.
Luka Doncic led them with 33 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. He looked in top form despite missing the Lakers’ game on Friday at Denver with a sprained right ankle.
Center Jaxson Hayes, who rejoined the starting lineup after missing four games with a knee contusion, had 19 points, several coming off of assists from Doncic.
But what warranted just as much attention was the Lakers defense.
With his team’s health improving, Redick said he’d like for the Lakers to resume playing at “a high-level defensively.’’
"I think it starts there," Redick said. "I do believe we need to be whole for that to happen. Just the nature of our roster, it works when everybody's out there and I think that's one thing."
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As if on cue, the Lakers held the Suns to 6-of-22 shooting in the first quarter and stayed locked in defensively while the Suns shot 9-for-41 from 3-point range and 39.3 percent overall.
"We came out and gave them the first punch and finished the game," said Dorian Finney-Smith, one of the Lakers’ defensive specialists.
It was the kind of defense the Lakers showed when they won 20 of 24 games and eight in a row before James suffered the groin injury March 8 against the Boston Celtics.
Now James appears to be headed back sooner than later. As the Lakers jell with Doncic. As Austin Reaves lit it up again, with 28 points against the Suns.
Then there are the likes of Finney-Smith, throwing those (mostly) metaphorical punches.
"So we just got to continue to bring energy," he said. “Luka, AR and, when LeBron get back, they going to have the ball in their hand most of the time. And we just got to be able to give energy, be the energy givers, make up shots and play defense."
Beyond the box score
If you’re relying on the box score to tell the story, it was a tough day for Jordan Goodwin. The Lakers guard got a somewhat surprising start and here’s what he produced:
Two points on 1-for-5 shooting and four fouls in 28 minutes.
But he also had three rebounds, two blocks and one assist in 28 minutes.
"Jordan Goodwin was incredible tonight ..." Redick said. "He set the tone for us and they're an incredibly difficult team to guard.
"Our guys executed what we wanted to do. They took the shots we were willing to live with and him and (Dorian Finney-Smith). Everybody had turns because we read it a lot today, but him and (Finney-Smith) set the tone."
As a result, the Suns stars suffered.
Devin Booker and Kevin Durant both shot 6-for-17 from the floor and a combined 2-for-10 from 3-point range.
Lakers' 7-footer energizes Luka Doncic
No doubt Doncic misses the playing alongside James. But he seemed just as pleased about the return of Hayes, the Lakers’ thin but high-flying 7-footer.
Hayes gives Doncic a perfect target for lob passes, and they connected multiple times during Hayes’ 19-point effort against the Suns.
How good was it to have him back?
"Well, you can see it," Doncic said. "You can see the difference. For me, it helps me a lot, but he helps the whole team getting blocked shots (and rebounds). He can do a lot of things and we're missing."
Redick also lauded Hayes for his constant screening and called it "another area of growth."
"Incredibly important when teams are blitzing us," he said.
How Lakers set the tone
The loss of James. The loss of four straight games. Four tough stops at Boston, Brooklyn, Milwaukee and Denver.
Coming off that grueling road trip, the Lakers blitzed the Suns by opening the game with a 31-11 surge.
"We knew we had to do better," Doncic said, referring to the four-game losing streak. "We knew we have to be more physical, first of all. And I think our defense was amazing today from the start to finish."
Or as Finney-Smith put it, "We came out first quarter, gave them the first punch."
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