Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Lakers Beat Suns 101-73, Clinch Home Court in 1st Round, LeBron Drops 28/6/12

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Lakers clinch home court for the first round of the playoffs. Now what happens? We'll tell you next. You are Locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks, everyone for joining Locked on Lakers. I'm Brian Kaminetsky with Andy Kaminowski.

Starting point is 00:00:28 And thanks to the Minnesota Timberwolves as well, who knocked off the Houston Rockets, which means in combination with a big blowout, it turned into a blowout victory for the Lakers over Phoenix 101 to 73. At the Cript on Friday night, it means the Lakers have clinched no worse than a four-seat in the Western Conference. They will open the playoffs at home. They could still finish third if they win on Sunday

Starting point is 00:00:55 and Denver loses to San Antonio. But for all practical purposes, that doesn't really matter, I think, for the Lakers. And what this does, Andy, he said, what happens next? Well, the Lakers get to choose what happens next. They can approach Sunday's game and handle it however they want without having to go full out and make sure they beat the jazz or risk injury if that's what they want to do

Starting point is 00:01:26 or get reps if that's what they want to do. So a really strong night for the Lakers, who again took care of business against sort of a zombie squad in a banged-up Phoenix team. Yeah, Phoenix was missing Devin Booker. They were missing Jalen Green. They were missing Jordan Goodwin. And the Lakers did not give a damn in the slightest.

Starting point is 00:01:47 Like this was an important game for them to win in the same way. It was important for them to beat the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night. And before we even get into some of the details of the game, I thought JJ, he was asked about just. just what it means to have gotten to this point, 52 wins, possibility of 53, given all of the injuries they've had all season guys in and out of the lineup. And he said that we should not discredit what this group did for the regular season in the sense of looking ahead to the playoffs and making it all about the playoffs.

Starting point is 00:02:25 Like obviously it's the Lakers, JJ acknowledged. The goal, particularly with the Lakers, but really, all players when they start the season and all teams when they start the season. They look to win a championship and that's still the Lakers goal right now, however difficult that could be given the circumstances,

Starting point is 00:02:43 but he's like getting 50 plus wins, home court advantage in the first round with all of the adversity they dealt with this season. He said it's something they as a coaching staff, they as players should be really proud of

Starting point is 00:02:59 and like they should really, and they should really, And they are correct. Like, you know, this season has had a lot of twists and turns. It's had a lot of ups and downs. There have been times where the team could be frustrating. There could be times where the season was frustrating. At the end of the day, 50 plus wins with all of that bleep swirling around them, it's pretty great. And everybody should recognize that moving forward.

Starting point is 00:03:25 I think it's valuable for a couple reasons to sort of point that out. I mean, the first being, you know, just because we live in a, you know, hot take, titles only, you know, win, you're like it's a waste and all that kind of stuff. That's sort of a culture. And particularly in L.A. that sort of becomes the default for a lot of fans. It's, it is worth acknowledging that doing this kind of thing is hard. It is hard to finish third or fourth in a stacked West. conference it's very hard to do it when um when the you know the the the the injuries and all that stuff can pile up but i also think it's really smart to acknowledge this stuff and approach

Starting point is 00:04:11 it with a sense of pride kind of just to remind the team you know what they've done what they've accomplished and and that this is that you are a good basketball team who should feel good about itself going into the postseason. Like, you know, we went through a dark three or four or five days, played a couple really bad games, and Karnard talked about this in the locker room afterwards. But like, now we've come out the other side and we're ready to play some playoff basketball.

Starting point is 00:04:44 You know, JJ, before the game, he was asked. It was a really good question from Dan Wojke, from the athletic front of the show. We had talked before about how JJ had brought up the idea of empathy for the team heading into the Golden State win, you know, on the heels of a very tense loss against Golden State, J.J. having degrees of clashes with Rory Hachamura, especially Jared Vanderbilt on the court, some tough words about DeAndre Aiton and catching after the game. And Dan asked him about just the empathy piece of this and what made you go there. And JJ said, quote, it all started from the the pregame heading. He's talking about OKC. We saw how we were pregame early on. We didn't seem like we were ready to play. I tried to inject some emotion into the game. And, you know, whether that was the right thing or the wrong thing to do, I said last night, I think it means addressing the team, probably the wrong thing to do. All of my coaches, they talk to the players and you get a lot

Starting point is 00:05:40 more information. I talked to so-and-so after the game. I talked to so-and-so this morning. And then JJ said he went out of his way to talk with Jared Vanderbilt at the facility when they were in Sanfran And for the Golden State game, he spoke with Rui in his room. And JJ went on to say, just gathering information. That's what you're always doing on this job. You're gathering information from your players and coaches. Again, as I said, probably overlooked on my part the emotional toll. And I think these two things are connected, like just the idea of recognizing the context of everything.

Starting point is 00:06:16 And in that moment, JJ, and I thought so in the moment in real time when you and I I reacted to all this, but I think JJ came to recognize. Like, I lost sight of that context and I burned too hot, which JJ has occasionally done. But what matters most is he recognized the importance of not just correcting it and addressing it with his players, but again, recognizing the context of everything they're going through and how important that is as they try to move forward in what is going to be a very, difficult playoff circumstances, regardless of what C they are, who they play, whatever. Like, it's going to be hard. And I think that, I think recognizing that context matters a lot.

Starting point is 00:07:04 Yeah, for sure. I mean, and, you know, I think conceptually what he was thinking about is, I don't want to argue with JJ Reddick about, you know, whether he agrees or just, you know, thinks, you know, he handled it exactly right or wrong. But like, you know, if these are, these things all happen like in a, in a series. Like, it's not, you know, individual, you know, one isolated moments that, you know, get sealed in amber and that, and that's the end of it. Like, there's, I think there could still be value in how he, in what he was getting at in Tuesday's game.

Starting point is 00:07:49 And there's definitely value. in how he reacted to the reaction, how he reacted to in the moment afterwards to Tuesday's game. So like, you know, we've talked about, is JJ gonna be a better coach this postseason than last? Moments like this where you say, okay, we did this thing. Work didn't work, I'm gonna say work didn't work, I believe it worked didn't work, whatever it is.

Starting point is 00:08:16 We take the valuable elements of that, of raising the accountability, of reminding them they've got something to play for and sort of snap out of it. I'm going to take the valuable parts of that. I'm not going to make sure that they hear the other stuff, and I will take accountability for missing part of it. And I think you can be rough on players. You can be highly critical.

Starting point is 00:08:45 You can do all that stuff if as a coaching staff you hold yourself accountable. And so you want to hold the team accountable for perhaps sort of not being ready to play and maybe kind of feeling, you know, getting too deep in their feelings. Okay. Hold yourself accountable for not understanding or recognizing the full context of what's going on. I think when you start to put those two things together, it indicates a head coach who reads is learning to read the room. and learning to measure how to get stuff out of his guys. Because this is a different group that you got to motivate. And you have to elevate, motivate, and, you know, bring them along.

Starting point is 00:09:34 So yeah, you got to take role players and hold them to a higher standard to make them do something outside their station. But you also have to kind of remember that these are role players. And, you know, you can't treat them. There was a lot of emotional whiplash from what they have. had been, like they, in the course of like 48 hours, they went from one of the hottest teams in the league to, holy crap, our season may be sunk. Slightly less hot.

Starting point is 00:09:59 Right. And all of this matters because their mentality and the vibes heading into this very difficult task seem right now to be excellent. And that's really important. Yeah. It's really important. LeBron led the way in this one, another outstanding game for LeBron. He had 28 points on.

Starting point is 00:10:20 on 10 of 16 shooting, 12 assists, six rebounds, only played 32 minutes, which is nice. Luke Canard had 19 points. Overall, it was not. Lakers shot a good percentage, 51% from the floor. They struggled to rebound, particularly in the first half. It was, you know, this is not a great-looking offense in this game. Defense was good, not 73 points good. You have to give some air quotes credit to the Sons for that.

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Starting point is 00:14:11 So the Lakers have the luxury of choice on Sunday. I mean, would you agree it doesn't matter if they finish third or fourth? Yeah. Functionally, I don't really matters. I mean, they're not going to be favored in either series. I know, I mean, it's funny. The Rockets have been. If they finish third, they get Minnesota.

Starting point is 00:14:34 If they finish fourth, they get Houston. And you can look at all this stuff in different ways. The Rockets have been the hotter team than the Timberwolves, but the Timberwolves very, very short-handed. beat the Rockets Friday night in a game. The Rockets needed to win more than the Timberwolves, which is why the Timberwolves were sitting so many of their players in the first place. And who knows a week from now what will be going on with either team,

Starting point is 00:15:03 particularly Minnesota when it comes to health. Like, you know, Minnesota's got some dudes that, you know, Julius Randall, Nas Reid, that have been dealing with stuff. McDaniels and Aunt are back, but those guys set out. I think by the time next weekend rolls around, everybody seems like they'll be back. But you don't remember. I just mean you can't predict it anyway. You can't predict what either team is really going to be looking like, feeling like after a week off.

Starting point is 00:15:32 And given that the Lakers are regardless of who they play, the team that's going to be missing the most firepower anyway, I agree. It doesn't really matter. Yeah. I mean, I think if I had to choose, I think I'd rather play Houston. But either way, like you say, they're not going to be the favorite team and nor should they be. But it does, winning tonight with Houston losing and, you know, clinching this first round gives the Lakers the option of deciding how they want to handle Sunday. I think you can make a solid argument for either any strategy you want to go for other than say, you know, 48 minutes for all your starters.

Starting point is 00:16:18 I could see an argument for letting guys play. I can certainly see an argument for sitting guys down. Where do you land on this sort of at first impression? I don't have a super strong opinion, but I am leaning more towards getting guys' reps, playing them two or three shifts in the first half. And that's it. Just because if Marcus Smart had not missed so many games,

Starting point is 00:16:48 I would say sit everybody. Like if everybody had been in a flow, I would just say, give them all the game off, use the extended time to try to decide between, assuming JJ hasn't already made up his mind, to try to potentially decide between Drew Timmy or Nick Smith Jr. As the 15th roster spot,

Starting point is 00:17:07 The wide assumption is one of those two guys is going to have their contract converted to a real NBA contract. I mean, there's a couple names I know we've been asked about like Lonzo Ball, Chris Paul, Cole Anthony, but I am expecting that it would probably be somebody in-house this late in the season. You could give either one of them or both of them a longer look, you know, really just gather as much info as possible. but given how many games Marcus has missed and how important he is to this team in general, but also just the offense, JJ talked afterwards that he said they ran four plays the entire game. Like they simplified a lot of stuff out there because you've got only one guy in LeBron that you truly want running an offense as a primary facilitator. And both Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard are going to be in elevated facilitating roles than they were just a week ago. Like that's the reality of this.

Starting point is 00:18:14 And I think it would be helpful for everybody, you know, not just Marcus and Luke, but everybody around them to just get more reps working this new dynamic together, especially Marcus. I would not play it. I would not play them more than the first half. Like I would not turn. I, you know, the result of the game doesn't matter. But I think the reps do. I understand the argument for rest. I don't think it's a stupid argument.

Starting point is 00:18:45 But if you're asking me what I would do, I would get guys reps. I think that's totally legit. And I would not object if they did it. I think I would probably sit guys. just because they are so thin. And you've got, you know, LeBron is 41. He's looking, look at Scribe, but he's 41. You know, Kinnard's playing with a bad finger.

Starting point is 00:19:10 And Rui has, you know, had little dings and stuff all year. And, you know, Smart just came back, played 18 minutes. He had seven assists in 18 minutes, two of five from the floor. Played pretty well. Like, look good. Third quarter in particular. Third quarter, Marcus was very good. You know, and if, like, Marcus wants to play,

Starting point is 00:19:27 that's different. JJ sounded after the game like he actually was planning on playing Marcus in particular. Yeah, like if he Marcus wants to play, you know, if Smart wants to play, like that's different. Like I think if a player wants to get the reps,

Starting point is 00:19:43 I think you can, you can honor that request. And Adith, obviously, like you say, you played 18 minutes in this game. He's not going to play more than that on Sunday. But if it would make smart feel better going into the playoffs,

Starting point is 00:19:56 then you give him that run. But short of that, I think it would sit guys. And one of the reasons I would do it is, you know, I fully expect JJ to handle this week-long lead-up to the playoffs differently this year than last year. People forget, like last year, they made a lot of sense at the time. He basically gave, I want to say a week off, but he got guys off their feet.

Starting point is 00:20:21 They didn't practice particularly hard. they use that time to try to get players healthy. And the results, JJ believed, was a game one where they came out very flat. I think you can get a lot of that work in that you're talking about sort of in a first half against the jazz. I think you can get a lot of that work in on, you know, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Thursday. especially if guys are off their feet on Sunday. You can kind of start that week a little earlier and add more reps to your practice week.

Starting point is 00:21:01 I just think the risk of any type of injury is going to be, you know, the downside of the injury to me is worse than the upside of an extra, you know, what amounts to 12 to 15 possessions with sort of these guys all together. you know, 15 at the moment, you know, whatever it might be. So I would probably sit down. But again, if Smart wants to play, if LeBron wants to play,

Starting point is 00:21:30 if guys don't want to be off, sometimes people don't want to be off their feet from game action for more than a week. Like, okay, go play a little bit. It's fine. But my inclination is like I said. Yeah. Again, like I said, I would lean towards reps, but I don't feel super strong about it in either direction.

Starting point is 00:21:49 What matters most is they just enter this period after Sunday, between that and the first game of the playoffs, just feeling good about themselves, feeling as healthy as anybody's going to feel at this time of year, because players will tell you everybody's dealing with something. But again, like we said from the start of the show, the mood right now seems very good. I realize that they've elevated it at the expense of short-handed teams, but it doesn't matter. Well, it just, they, the, the alternative is them not playing well against these teams, in which case it just starts becoming damn near impossible to talk yourself into just believing in what you're going to do. I'm not even talking about believing you can win the series, but the beginning is believing in what you are, like the foundation of what you're going to do and you take it from

Starting point is 00:22:54 there, if they did not have decisive wins over Golden State and Phoenix, it becomes so difficult to actually just have that foundation. So good stuff tonight, man. Good stuff. Yeah, for sure. All right, well, we'll see what they do on Sunday. Obviously, we'll be back to break it all down afterwards and get ready for a week of playoffs preparation, which is an exciting. thing and a game one will be at crypto.com on either Saturday or Sunday. So plenty to look forward to good last couple of days for the Lakers. And yeah, we'll see what happens next. You got to go out and play the games. Locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you're going to hang out with over 38,000 subscribers. We'll see everyone tomorrow.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Lakers Beat Suns 101-73, Clinch Home Court in 1st Round, LeBron Drops 28/6/12

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