Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Has Max Christie Arrived? Career High 28 Points Helps the Lakers Beat Trail Blazers, 114-106

Episode Date: January 3, 2025

Anthony Davis, who is now a fixture on the injury report before every game thanks to plantar fasciitis, was on the shelf for Thursday's tilt with Portland at the Crypt. On paper, it was a good game for him to miss, because the Lakers ought to be able to beat the Blazers—among the worst teams in basketball—without him. And that's exactly what happened, though it turned into a nailbiter down the stretch. LA runs its record to 19-14, with an opportunity to get to 20 tonight against the Hawks. With Davis in street clothes, the Lakers needed, and got, big performances from LeBron James, who finished with 38 points including a blistering 7-10 from 3-point range. While he shot poorly (5-15), Austin Reaves did point guard stuff, with 11 assists. Quietly, though, the Lakers also rode a career high 28 points from Max Christie. Inserted into the starting lineup in order to improve the team's performance defensively, Christie has made major strides in his offensive output, as well. Thursday's career high surpassed the one he set about 10 days ago, and put Christie in double figures as as scorer in four of the last five games. As he piles up consistent playing time, it's not surprising to see Christie improve. This is the first time in his career Christie has been getting big minutes on a consistent basis. It's a trend that could have a significant impact on the team over the second half of the season, should it hold. And it comes just in time for the Lakers, who need to use a home-heavy schedule to solidify their place in the top six of the Western Conference. Counting tonight's game, the Lakers will play eight of their next 11 at the Crypt, and one of the three road games is a trip to Steve Ballmer's new building for the Clippers. The opponents aren't easy (which puts a major premium on winning tonight), but LA has been very good at home. One of the major issues facing the team is scoring. The offense continues to struggle, particularly in key moments of the game. If they're not going to have a lot of playmaking on the roster, the Lakers need secondary scorers who can convert the opportunities the team manages to create.  HOSTS: Andy and Brian KamenetzkySEGMENT 1: LeBron does LeBron stuff, while Christie sets a career high. SEGMENT 2: The offense still gets stuck in the mud. SEGMENT 3: The January opportunity.  Your favorite podcast now has a newsletter! In One-stop for ultimate team and league coverage delivered right to your in box. Sign up for free now, at lockedondaily.com.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Rocket RXRight now, our listeners can get 40% off your first order when you use code LOCKEDONNBA at RocketRX.com. Terms and Conditions apply.Rocket RX: Better sex, made simple.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelThe NFL Playoffs are almost here, but it’s not too late to get in on the regular season action with FanDuel because right now, new customers can finish the season strong with TWO HUNDRED and FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins. Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey everyone. Welcome to Locked on Lakers for Friday, Brian Kaminetsky, Andy Kaminetsky, no AD on Thursday against Portland. No problem mostly for the Lakers. LeBron scores 36 and Max Christie blows up for 28 as the young man officially arrived. That's next. You are locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network. Your team every day. Thanks to everybody for making Lockdown Lickers first listen to every day Monday through Friday no matter how or where you get your podcast. This one's always free and never, ever, ever behind paywall. Of course, that's Locked on Lakers on YouTube.

Lots of people watching now. Almost 27,000 subscribers to the channel, Andy, all of whom are pleased, I think with the end result, at the very least of a 114 to 106 win over the Portland Trailblazers. at the Crypt on Thursday night. No Anthony Davis, but the Lakers use big nights from LeBron James and Max Christie to win. This one will unpack all of it here in a second.

Do want to remind people of today's episode. Brought to you by Fandul, the NFL playoffs, almost here. Go Rams. But it's not too late. Get it on the regular season action with Fandul because right now new customers can finish the season strong. $250 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. visit fanduil.com get started.

So I guess it's not surprising, Andy. Anthony Davis was not available for the game on Thursday in the sense that you've sort of been waiting around for him to miss a game just because we've been looking with the planar fasciitis issue for so long. But he did pop up with an ankle thing for the game, and the Lakers held him out. with a game again tonight against Atlanta. You ought to be able to beat the Blazers without him, and they did.

But something obviously to keep an eye on. When for Thursday's show, I had said that I would have been surprised if AD didn't play when he had been listed as questionable with the ankle. I had forgotten about the back-to-back situation. It makes a lot more sense once you think about the I, idea that he might be playing just one end of it. I suppose we'll really get an idea of what this is, because he has had that ankle issue that we weren't quite sure how connected this was or was not to the plan or fasciitis. That has been a thing over the last couple of weeks. So I guess his

availability tonight will really give an indication of how much this is or is not a thing. Gabe Vincent also did not play in tonight's game, still dealing with the after effects of of that illegal screen by DeMontes Sabonis. I also just want to say off the top that if you're not feeling great as a Laker fan about an eight-point win over these Blazers that I cannot figure out how they won 11 games, Dorian Finney Smith got called for a foul on a three-point shot by Anthony Simons where the replay, this was reviewed, showed Finney Smith getting two-handed, into Simons. Somehow the call stood, but thankfully because these reps were on it, they didn't call a flagrant on DFS. Simons ended up hitting all three of those free throws.

Then Rui got called for a goaltend on a scoot Henderson layup that clearly the ball was on the way up. Rui did not pin this block. They reviewed it and still called it a gold tend. Like this was the most shameful use of. view, I have seen in a long time. So 114. And Andy's mind, the final score was 114 to 101, which looks better.

There's no question. I mean, I'm not joking. It really should be a 13 point. I know. I get it. I understand what you're saying. Either way, it is, you know, the Lakers without Anthony Davis, you know, obviously down gave Benson, still integrating two new players into the rotation and getting used to not

having your primary bench score in DeAngelo Russell. I personally am still in the expecting some kinks in the offense stage of this whole thing. That said, and we may or not get. He was. It sounds like a cinematic's after dark movie. If he's looking for something to do after his career, kinky with Dilo is certainly an option. No judgment. A lot of ranniness this week on Lakers.

It really has been. We talked about Felix's Frankfurt. This, just a lot going on. That said, the offense really gets gummy at important times of the game, which is something to look and needs to be fixed down the road as they face better teams. We'll talk about this critical January period they're in. Just generally speaking, when teams turn up the heat, in the fourth quarter, the Lakers need to be able to respond better than they,

certainly when they did through a lot of this game, and as they have for much of the last month or so. But anyway, no AD, you need starts with LeBron, and LeBron was great offensively. The shot that was very worrisome, the jump shot that we were all concerned about Andy, not a problem on Thursday. LeBron hit 7 of 10 from 3. And it was interesting here after the game. J.J. Reddick talked about wanting James to be more aggressive, shooting the three, not just going to the basket and all that other kind of stuff.

Well, he's made it clear he wants somebody on this team to take and make more threes. That has been an edict of J.J. Reddick's all season. Thus far, it has not been an edict that has been. collectively, I guess, accepted and acted upon by the Lakers tonight. It certainly was. They took 43 as a team made 35%. The percentage was also bumped up. We'll get into Max Christie.

He was five of nine. The rest of the group was certainly tailing behind them, Austin Reeves, two of nine. Rui missed all four of his triples. And side note, seems to be here. the rumors that DFS could be taking his spot. Something that he is in a bit of a swamp there. Because ever since DFS joined this team, Rui's been terrible.

He really has been. Like at this point, you might as well actually just flip them in the lineup because you could end up getting a better version of Rui. He doesn't need a shot since the game on the league we go Saturday against Sanker. DFS was one of four, Shake Milton, O of 3,

Dalton Connect, O of 3. So it was really Max and LeBron doing the lion's share of three-point shooting in this game. Yeah, I should say he hasn't hit a three-point shot. He really does have a bucket in that time. And, you know, it is always fun to see LeBron do LeBron stuff. And all of that said, a 38 and 8 night from LeBron is kind of normal. I mean, and so that's sort of the baseline of what you need on a night where AD isn't playing. And particularly on a night where Reeves, while he had 11 assists, which is definitely what the Lakers are looking for, struggled from the floor, five and 15.

They needed other guys to step up. And the Lakers got some contributions from the center position, which we could talk about a little bit. and different players popping in and doing stuff. But the main source of offense to go along with LeBron came with Max Christie, who for the second time in like 10 days or so set a career high. He had 28 points and was impactful on both sides of the ball. Christy has quietly, Andy, started piling up a lot of double-digit performance. over the last couple of weeks.

And I asked the question in the cold open whether or not he has kind of arrived, you know, as in sports terminology. So we'll get to that next. Locked on Lakers is brought to by Fanduel, the NFL playoffs. They're almost here. The Rams are going to be a part of it. So make sure you're listening to Locked on Rams to get prepared for that. Co-hosted by our buddy Travis Rogers.

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Fandall.com for your chance of $250 and bonus bets. Make every moment more with Fandle, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. Quick reminder to check out the postcast today at Palais. After every game, you can get some instant reaction to what the Lakers do on the floor. And of course, if you sign up for the Lockdowne Lakers newsletter, it is free. It is daily.

And it appears right in your inbox. Go to lockdowndaily.com. Click on LockonLakers. It'd be really, you know, we appreciate it if you do that kind of thing. It's helpful to us. Speaking of which we, things we appreciate, by the way, too, because we don't explicitly say this enough. In addition to subscribing to Locked on Lakers on YouTube and on audio,

both of which is helpful for us. Leave five-star reviews on iTunes. It helps with the algorithms. Make sure you're giving us likes. Again, also helps with the algorithms. Like, these are things that we should. should be telling you to do more often than we actually do. So please do that. Yeah. Thank you. I asked before the break, Andy, whether or not Max Christie has arrived. And I said I was going to ask

you whether you thought Max Christie has arrived. So I'll ask you, Andy, has Max Christy arrived? Well, first of all, for those of us who both kept their Max Christie stock and have held it for a few years and told people after that brief period of getting benched, don't sell it all, man, you're going to want it. I'm feeling vindicated. He has arrived might be too strong of a word just because in the grand scheme of things, the sample size is still pretty small. Do I think he is on the freeway towards Arive Town? Yeah. I mean, he's he's looking really good. And what I think is really great about this is there's a consistency in the way that he keeps performing well. He really does the 3 and D thing that I think the Lakers envisioned for him.

He's at a string of games where he's hitting outside shots and also he keeps taking on difficult assignments and doing well with them defensively. He is also increasingly becoming confident in terms of attacking the basket. And in tonight's game, the thing he did really well, which speaks to something I've also always liked about Christy, which is that he is both, he's a smart guy if you ever hear him talk. He's like unnervingly mature for his age. It sounds like a CPA. Yeah. It's a little, it's a little bit startling at times when you hear him.

But it speaks to basketball intelligence as well. He did such a great job in tonight's game, creating either score. opportunities for himself or somebody else just by moving. He was continually moving off ball. There were so many different opportunities where cutting along the baseline, diving through the lane. He created outlets a lot of times for LeBron. He did it a couple times.

I remember Rui was double-teamed along the baseline. Max cut from one corner. Rui found him. Easy basket. He just, he's one of the guys on this team that is best at remembering to not just stand around. And tonight was a really good example of why it matters. I think with Christie, Redick talked a little bit about his game.

And really, Max, who he did a live spot with the Spectrum crew after the game, he kind of emphasized some of those things you're talking about, taking the three-pointers, you know, getting those to go down. The catch-and-shoot numbers for Christie still remain very, very strong. But also getting downhill and attacking at the basket, at five free throws on Thursday. He has, he's missed two free throws in his last 10 games. I mean, so when he gets there, he makes these excellent free throw shooter, a little over

87% on the season. I think this combination of kind of smart offense, finding your spots, confidently doing the things that you are being asked to do and taking the opportunity. that are being provided is really the winning formula here for the Lakers to be able to get 10 to 15 points a night from Christie on a consistent basis.

And while Reddick did call out Christie's first shift that included two mid-range shots that he did not like. He said he wanted to ring his neck. I could only picture like Homer and Bart like, you know, taking that mid-range shot. shot. It was both revealing of what he wants from Max, but also what he doesn't want to see

generally from the Lakers, get to the rack or take threes, but don't get stuck in the middle. I, I, we talk a lot, Andy, about like what seems repeatable. Like, what does what we're seeing seem at all fluky? And the way that Christie is producing with five double digit, four double-digit nights in his last five games. How he's doing it feels 100% repeatable for a guy who's going to be playing 28 to 33 minutes a night. The opportunities for him to take seven or eight shots and get to the line three or four times, it's going to be there every night because he's clearly going to keep a high amount of minutes on the floor. he talked about how during that period where he was benched he regrouped he watched a lot of film he

i think he paid attention and again he's just he's he's he's a hard worker but he's also just a very conscientious guy and it's not it's not surprising to me that he analyzed what went wrong and figured out ways to do it better i think it also helps that he is now in a tailor-made role for what have been his strengths so far in a young NBA career. But no, I don't think this is fluky at all. This is who I've always thought Max Christie could be. I liked him since he was a rookie. I've wanted him to play more since he was a rookie.

But also, I mean, two things happen, though, that are critical. Like, I are, you know, he obviously is somebody who learns and internalizes and but he also came back from that benching with much more aggression. in how he played, whether it's confidence, aggressiveness, whatever it is. Like that thoughtfulness for Christy, I think sometimes would lead to a little bit of passivity in the sense that, you know, not that he's not trying hard, but that he's not asserting himself because he feels like I'm supposed to be doing this or deferring to LeBron, deferring to A.D., whoever might be. I don't think he's doing that anymore. I think he came back on the floor

and said, I'm going to get mine. You know, I'm going to understand what mine looks like. Right. I'm going to stay in my lane, but I'm going to do the things that are in my lane because before he wasn't. And I think that that mental switch in how he's played has been a huge part of why he is playing differently. And then, like you say, the consistency of minutes for a guy who,

we both would like to point out to people, you know, has played very little NBA basketball. The minutes he's getting now are critical for that. Speaking also two of guys who went through a period of not playing, wanted to give a quick shout out to both Jackson Hayes and Christian Coloco. Hayes was active for the last game against Cleveland, but ended up not playing at all. Christian Coloco wasn't even dressed for it. and both of them were pressed into action with no AD in Portland being a pretty big team

and they both played very well. Jackson A's 18 minutes, four points, six rebounds, two on the offensive glass, a steel and a block, you know, the type of activity you expect from Jackson Lane. Christian Coloco was terrific. Eight points, four of eight from the field, eight rebounds, six on the offensive glass,

three assists. I tweeted during the game at Cambrother, like Christian Coloco forget the idea that I think he dribbled more in this game than he has in all of his previous Lakers games combined. He may have dribbled more in this game than his entire NBA career. Like Christian Coloco was taking the ball up the court. I was like, what is going on? But he did it really. He played like this was also a very alert game from Coloco.

There was shots that he altered. He was really, really good. good. You talk about, you noted it with Christy, like the movement and the activity. I mean, that's when you, when you're going to use your center minutes on Jackson Hayes and Christian Coloco, you're hoping maybe you can get, you know, 10 points out of the two, and they certainly exceeded that on Thursday. But then what you're really hoping for is energy and movement and the, you know, the creation of second chance opportunities and guys who are going to slow down and disrupt the opponent just because they're bouncing around all over the place, you know,

on the offensive glass, as rim protectors, whatever might be. And while, you know, you watch Coloco do stuff, and there's always this sort of underlying feeling that, you know, could all go horribly wrong at any moment. The point to me of like, you know, okay, I can put the ball on the floor a little bit. You know, I can make the right pass when I need to. It's like he's involved and he's doing stuff and they both brought real energy. to what the Lakers were doing. And rightly, shouted out by both you,

but also JJ Redick after the game, that's what you need to have. Like, the Lakers can't keep playing Rui Hachamora at center like 35 minutes a game. Certainly not against, you know, Donovan Klingin or, you know, like that is an enormous, enormous person. Like, I don't know what, like,

he and like a Zach Eady all you can eat, buffet would look like. My God, it's a lot of food. Big, big kid. Also, too, real quick, like a sequence that summarized the Dorian Finney Smith kind of experience, but like along the lines of hustle, there was a sequence where Dorian Finney Smith had a three blocked, but he tracked down the loose ball of his own blocked shot and then turned it over, but stole the ball back as Portland tried to move the ball. I was like, that dude, like he's described himself as a dog. I'm like, okay, that that's some dog bleep right there in a good way.

Like that's a dude. I don't mean it like dog bleep in a. No, he's doing dog things. Yeah. That is, I mean, that is not giving up on a play. Like that might be the most I've ever seen somebody not give up on a play. It was amazing. What's going on there. DFS, a plus 11 in his 24 minutes, despite only scoring three points,

which is kind of what the Lakers are looking for from. He was part of that big second quarter, second quarter push that the Lakers had that really came on the defensive side of the ball to take a kind of meh first quarter and give themselves a comfortable lead going in the halftime. All right. Let's talk about why this game matters, why the, uh, Perhaps the arrival of a Max Christi matters because the Lakers have a really important stretch of schedule coming up between now and, you know, the next two or three weeks in January. We will explain what that is next.

Locked on Lakers is brought to you by game time. I love live events, whether you're talking about sports, music, comedy, theater, one of my favorite memories in 2024, attending Hamilton on Broadway last spring with my family. and it was really fun. My daughter got to meet basically the entire cast after the show. They were all hanging out outside afterwards, all really nice. My daughter took a bunch of selfies with the actors. It was really, really fun. And game time has made it even easier to get tickets to events like Hamilton with features like game time picks that filters out all of the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great seats.

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create an account and use the code locked on NBA for 20 bucks off for first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem the code L-O-C-E-D-O-N-N-B for $20. dollars off. Download game time today. What time is it game time? So here's what the Lakers got upcoming, Andy. I'm just going to read the teams first. Tonight, Atlanta, Sunday, Houston, then they go to Dallas. They call that the Texas Two Step. Charlotte, two games against San Antonio, a game against Miami, then Brooklyn, then the Clippers, Washington, and Boston. Then they go out on the road at the end of January for

that six game trip, I believe it is. Although one of those games against the clippers, so that makes a difference. But anyway, two opportunities, two reasons is significant. First of all, you know, the Hawks are kind of a middish team. You have Dallas without Luca. You've got Charlotte. They kind of suck. Two games against San Antonio.

But the Lakers have been very good against San Antonio. And Wemby has not been good against the Lakers. I'm going to put those in the those are hard game categories. Lord knows, I have no idea what's going on with Miami. Jimmy Butler is searching for his joy. I don't know if he's going to find it. Oh, no. Forget searching for his joy.

He's searching for a new team. He has requested trade. Where he can find joy. Well, I'm just going to make it clear. He's made it clear that joy does not exist in Miami. It exists on potentially 29 other teams. Right. He will go to all of them just as long as they're not Miami.

Like Mudville, there is no joy in Miami. Brooklyn, they kind of suck. DeLo home coming there. You got the Clippers, Washington, terrible team, Boston, all that. So it's significant both because there are a lot of winnable games on that schedule, but most significant because aside from the Houston and Dallas games, they do not leave Los Angeles between now and the start of that road trip in San Francisco on the 25th. So the Lakers with an opportunity to go to 20 and 14 tonight, if they're going to

give themselves a chance to really place themselves firmly in that top six, this is one of those stretches where you've got to be four or five games over 500 to make that happen. Here's something that also goes unsaid, but we'll say it anyway, with a pretty soft January schedule. What that means is February and beyond much more difficult. And I know we went through this

before the season began when the schedule was released and we laid out different pockets of opportunity like this one and places they're going to be rough. Basically post all-star break, it is really,

really difficult sledding. It's just, it's just a brutal stretch of games. I think they have two games against Portland. I think they close the season against Portland. But for the most part, it is playoff caliber teams. And they really need to make sure that they make the most of this opportunity in January

to bank some wins and create a cushion because it could get much, much more difficult. you want that reservoir wins. You close, I'm just going to go from March 29th the end of the season. Memphis, Houston, Golden State, New Orleans, Oklahoma City twice in Oklahoma City, Dallas, on the road, Houston, and then Portland. So, you know, New Orleans,

probably by then, you know, who knows what they're doing, that's not a good team. Portland, not a good team. Everything else you heard me say in there is pretty strong. And so, you know, you don't want to be in a situation where you've got to win six of eight over your last eight games

because that is going to be a really tall order. I just, like, I look at where they are. And we talked about optimism earlier in the week and why he kind of like at least feel pretty good about 2025, not from a the Lakers or championship contenders right now kind of way, but like in the sense of meaningful basketball can be played between now and the end the season. And there is at least, it is reasonable to believe as a Lakers fan that the season could go into May, into, you know, you've got a round or two here. And if, you know, you get lucky, you see what happens. But I look at somebody like Christy making these kinds of very timely

improvements in his game on top of a smart trade to bring in somebody like, like Dorian Finney Smith, on top of the expected return of guys like Vanderbilt, guys like Christian Wood, who aren't going to come in and just, you know, change the world for the Lakers. But it's just, again, these incremental steps to help make the team get better, they could use another center. And Christian Wood has a skill set that Jackson Hayes does not. You know, if Vanderbilt can be something to, you know, what he looks like and what you expect from Vando for 15 minutes a game.

I'm not, you know, I know we've had discussions about like whether or not he plays that much, whether he needs to play more or whatever. But just being like, you know what, it's there. He's got the capability to go really hard and be disruptive for 15 minutes a night. That's another tool in the box for JJ Redding. It's like things are lining up reasonably well, and if they can take advantage of it in this stretch of games, then they've got a little bit of flexibility for when it gets really brutal in February and March. It also may influence what they decide to do or not do with the trade deadline.

I mean, depending on how many games above 500 they are towards the end of January, with like a week to go before the deadline. Look, it could go a bunch of different ways. You know, you could picture a scenario where they decide we're playing really well. We're good. We don't need to add anymore. It could lead to a scenario where they decide, screw it, we're going to go all in and make a really aggressive move. But what will not happen if they take care of business in January is they decide it's not worth doing anything.

You know, like you won't, you won't get. get a feeling like this season is going to be wasted. Because if they finish January eight or nine games above 500, it doesn't necessarily guarantee that they make another move before the deadline. But it probably signals a team that is moving in a direction where they can at least be, they can at least be giving themselves a competitive shot in the playoffs. Right. And it's also, too, it's like, where do you sit relative to the conference?

The goal is like, are we going to make ourselves as good as Oklahoma City? And I understand, like, you've got to be real careful with the proverbial all in move because it's got to be something that it can't be one of these things that just looks nice on paper or it's a big splashy thing or whatever. If you are going to use the rest of your draft assets and the Ruby Hachimura contract and everything else, it isn't nailed to the floor, like, It really does need to be a trade of major consequence that while there are no guarantees in the world, seems like it's set up to work out in your favor.

Like, that's got to be the thing because this is your last real opportunity to do something bold in the sort of LeBron AD era for the time being. But that said, it's like there might be. some stuff in the middle that can make you a better team that doesn't necessarily mortgage the future, but doesn't also doesn't, you know, doesn't get you to the, the OKC level. It leaves you in that position of hoping Shea sprains an ankle in the second round, you know, because bleep happens. And you don't want to root for that, but there are a lot of teams that go into the playoffs.

You said you were hoping for it. Well, the team, where the Lakers are, like, there are teams that go into the playoffs. every year knowing that they are one superstar injury away from having a reasonable path to a conference. It's not about hoping for it. It's about being prepared if something does happen. Right. And these things happen.

Anthony Davis gets hurt in the first round against the Sons and the Lakers get eliminated. I still firmly believe, yeah. I firmly believe that if AD doesn't get hurt, not only the Lakers win that series, I think they go to the finals again. possible yeah and so you know the can you give yourself an opportunity and the lakers can show that like are we good enough to be in that next group and if they are that's worth making a move man they're pretty close to the next group anyway they're half a game out of the four seed right now god it's tight yeah i'm just saying i mean like the next the next group i mean okayc is sort of

its own group and my God, did they turn around a game against the clippers and kick the crap out of them? No James Hardin, but still. Still, I mean, they shifted that game mighty and decisively after being down at halftime. Like, they're kind of in their own class, but then you could argue the next tier offers a lot of fluidity. And like, Lakers aren't necessarily even that far behind Houston. You know what I mean? Like, they have an operational. opportunity to move up, should they take it? There's no question about that. Lockdown Lakers on YouTube is where you can go hang out with over 26,000, damn near 27,000 subscribers to the channel. Again, check out the postcast with Dave Palais.

Sign up for the newsletter right down there. Go to LockdownDaily.com. Click on Lockdown Lakers. We'll be back after tonight's game against the Hawks, hopefully celebrating the team's 20th victory of the season. Everyone have a great day.