Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Lakers Get CRITICAL WIN Over Grizzlies, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves Combine for 60 Points

Episode Date: March 30, 2025

The Lakers needed a win on Sunday in Memphis, and they got it. 134-127 over the Grizzlies, giving LA a key tiebreaker in the Western Conference playoff race, and keeping them in fourth place (in position to host a first round matchup). The big three were huge, with Luka Dončić, LeBron James and Austin Reaves combining for 85 points and 25 assists, as the Lakers moved the ball very well as a team and generated a lot of high quality shots. Reaves in particular made a ton of critical plays, many based on raw hustle. His 31 points led the team, and big picture continues to raise the level of his play. Given how many games the Lakers have played over the last month, and how motivated the Grizzlies were after the organization fired Taylor Jenkins Friday, this was a very impressive win.  HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 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!5-Hour ENERGYHead to 5-hourENERGY.com to find over 15 flavors to choose from, including Watermelon, Blue Raspberry, and Peach-Mango. Need one now? Grab a 5-hour ENERGY shot at your local grocery or convenience store—they’re everywhere! Stock up today and stay energized.PrizepicksNow’s the perfect time to join. Download the app todayand use codeLOCKEDONNBA to get $50 instantly when you play your first $5 lineup! That’s right—no need to win to get the bonus, it’s guaranteed. PrizePicks—Run Your Game!Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNBAMonarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.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.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.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 a special bonus episode of Locked-on Lakers. Brian Komenetsky, Andy Komenetsky, Lakers get a huge win in Memphis to close out the road trip 134-127. Big playoff implications in this one. We'll break it down next. You are Locked-on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks, Debra.

Thanks, Debra. For making Locked on Lakers, first listen to every day, Monday through Friday, and obviously sometimes on weekends as well, no matter how or where you get your podcast. It's always free and never behind paywall. Locked out Lakers on YouTube is where over 34,000 subscribers are celebrating a strong end to the road trip and often frustrating road trip,

one with highs and lows, often within the same minute and a half. But this was a got to have a game, and the Lakers went into Memphis and took this one from the Grizzlies, 134 to 127 final score there. Not only Lakers get back on a winning track. They also clinch the tiebreaker against Memphis,

which is certainly highly relevant, given how tight they are in the standings. What I think is really also, it's a reminder that ultimately how you get there matters in terms of what you are building towards the playoffs, how well you're playing, evaluating, needs fixing, what's working well, et cetera.

But the Lakers were two and two on this road trip. And we talked about heading into it. This was going to be a difficult road trip. There were still some questions about who would be available for every game. Rui Hachamora ended up missing the second end of the back-to-back against Chicago. If we had asked most Laker fans, and I think if you and I heading into this road trip said two and two, would you be good with that? We said, yeah, be fine with that.

I mean, sure, could they have been three and one? Yeah, they also could have been one in three. And it was, I thought it was interesting. Gabe Vincent was asked by Mike Trudell post game about, you know, like the importance of this win, both A coming off a buzzer beating, just gut punch loss against the Bulls, but also Memphis having just fired their head coach and knowing that Memphis would be desperate for a win. And Gabe said, quote, I felt like we were desperate for a win. so I didn't give a damn about how they were.

And also Gabe noted, like, look, we got kicked in the Nards, Chicago on a buzzer-beater, but we essentially kicked Indy in the Nards for a win. Like, these things happen. Like, this is the way things go. It's what makes sports exciting. It's what makes them at times frustrating. It's what makes them both beautiful and stressful. like you can't predict it.

Like you can't fix what's going to happen. You know what I mean? Like at the end of the day, this is part of the deal. Even unless you're talking about like a 72 and 10 warriors or 73 and 9, whatever they were, like this is the deal. It's how it works. And the numbers in this one, and we'll get into some of the individual performances in this and the team performances, the big three for the Lakers here combined.

for 85 points and 25 assists, 25 of the team's 30 assists from Luke at Donchich, LeBron, James, Austin Reeves. Obviously, 85 points is also a pretty strong output from those guys, but really the ball movement there in terms of setting up each other, setting up their teammates was excellent. It was a 50, 40, 90 performance for the Lakers. They shot over 50% from the field, over 40% from three point range. They were 25 of 27 from the free throw line led by, I'm sorry, 21 of 22 from Luca and AR. So overall, a very strong offensive performance, only 13 turnovers, particularly early. They took advantage of Memphis getting downhill constantly to create good shots. The defense fluctuated some, the quality, shot quality fluctuated a little bit over the course.

Look, this is a big game for Memphis, too. They were, and kudos to them for pulling themselves back into it. But, yeah, they've played, Andy. I believe the number is 18 games in 30 days and like 11 games in 17. At some point, like, I'm not, I don't say this to excuse the Chicago loss because when you're 12 seconds away, you know, gut it out if you need. to. I know you're tired, but you know, you can do the extra 12 seconds here, but big picture, I don't know if the Lakers really have the luxury or we as commentators have the luxury of

picking on how it happens too much. If you go into Memphis and win the game, could it have been better? Sure. Were they up by 20 and let that lead get away? Absolutely. They also fell behind late and came back. So what do you want to focus on? I'm focusing on the fact that they won. Absolutely. I mean, this is a difficult closing game for a road trip. Memphis is a quality team. They got John Morant back.

They made a switch into the starting lineup with Zach Eadie as part of the first five, which is I think something that had been a, this was something Taylor Jenkins wasn't doing, that I think had been a source of tension both among the front office for the Grizzlies. I think among the reasons Taylor Jenkins was let go, but I think it was, if nothing else, among the reasons that players were having a certain degree of issues with lineup decisions, rotations, decisions, stuff like that.

With Zach Edy, I talked on my ESPNLA 710 Lakers show with Joe Malinex, Mullinex, one of the co-hosts of Locked-on Grizzlies. And he said that Eadie's role has been a bit of a question mark And I bring this up because when you bring EDI in, you are automatically putting the Lakers at a certain disadvantage size-wise because they only play one center in Jackson-Haze. You're also taking away a lot of that lob ability. It was as if on cue in the fourth quarter, Billy Mac and Stu were talking about how the Lakers had yet to connect with Hayes on a lob, which has become. at times like a huge steady diet for this team.

And right on cue, Luca did kind of this post-up duck up and under and then lobby. They got a little flip there. Unconventional way to finally get the lob in, no question. And considering just how big EDI is and the fact that Memphis is a pretty big team, pretty physical team, the fact that the Lakers won the rebounding battle, 42 to 41, It's one of the stats that I think may not jump out immediately,

but I think is really important, A, because I think it was critical for them winning this game, but B, I think it speaks to just the grit and the tenacity that they played with in this game, even when things occasionally were not going well, execution mistakes, whatever. I thought in the third quarter, part of the reason Memphis got back in, some of their, stop me if you've heard this before, they did not get off to the greatest start after halftime and some of the decisions were off. But they played closing quarters, starting the third, suddenly still a problem. But they played with tenacity in this game.

And a guy like Austin Reeves, you're going to look at his numbers in this game and his numbers were fantastic. And lately, Austin has just been on a run of clutch play. But there were two sequences where, one, he ran down. DFS had this really off target three that ricocheted. And he ran the thing down and drew a loose ball foul on Jalen Wells, got to the line, made both of them. And then he drew Jaron Jackson Jr.'s fourth foul because he was fronting him and poked away an entry pass and Triple J fouled him trying to get it back. So things like that were on display.

beyond just the really great numbers from the big three. It was just... It's cliche. Yeah, it's cliche to say it, but Andy, like, he made a ton of winning plays. Like, just stuff that is both smart and well done, but also where you just have to try really hard to get it done. I'm not necessarily saying trying hard. I don't know.

I'm not one of these people that says every time somebody came up with a loose ball. It means they wanted it. more than the other guy. I mean, the other guy might have wanted the ball, too. But, but, but yeah, you have to, you have to, you have to, you have to at least want to put out the effort. And he combined so many smart plays with just sheer effort. And, you know, I, I, I don't, I don't know where a lot of fans, I mean, I, I, I, I know,

Andy, you've had moments where you were a little, you know, I don't want to say skeptical of Reeves, but, you know, waiting, you know, pointing out what needed to happen for him to be like that, like, third guy. And there's no question. The context changes a little bit with Luca versus AD. It's a different, whole different setup. But over the last few weeks, aside from when he's just been too hurt to walk around, the guy's just been, you know, he's really raised his level, similar to kind of what he did last year late in the season. this was something I plan to bring up either during this show or Sunday into Monday or both. But I have been open about my concerns that while I have always maintained and consistently maintained,

I think Austin Reeves is a really good player. I thought he's a really good player for basically his entirety of his time with the Lakers. But I think people underestimate just how good you have to be, like the quality of play. that is required to be a legit third best player on a championship team. For the most part, unless you have like two superstars a la Kobe and Shaq in their prime that are just so good that the necessity of the third player drops off a bit, for the most part, that third best player quality is super high. And I was not sure Austin could reach it.

And look, to be fair to me, Austin is playing much better now than he was two months ago or three months ago or this last season and during the off season when I raised these concerns. Like Austin, to his credit, has raised his level of play. It's not like I was ignoring him doing this the whole season. He wasn't. But the way he has played for the last couple months, I have zero down. now that he is capable of doing that because he's just been better.

He just has. And kudos to him, man. He has worked his ass off to put himself in this position. And it was, you know, he talked after the game. He and Reddick and Luca LeBron had a, you know, pregame meeting with, you know, sort of the brain trust, so to speak, like, you know, the most important players. And AR, who, like, and Redick was asked about it after games. It's like, of course, why wouldn't he be included?

But you could tell Reeves was like, all right, like, it meant something to him to be put into that group that's going to, you know, we're meeting the most important players, the leaders of the team, coaches are getting together. And you are part of that group. And I think you could tell it was meaningful. He certainly played like it was meaningful to him. It's just, you know, we still are not getting, and it's not a criticism, but we're still not getting, I think, consistently. I don't think even, you know, Luca's biggest fans would disagree the best of Luca Donchage. The shot is pretty good tonight.

It's pretty good. And that's kind of where I'm going. Yeah. The shot efficiency has not been there. I think, you know, Billy Max said on the broadcast, said something like nine games or something like that under four. 40% since joining the Lakers, you know, from the field. But you're starting to see as well how much he controls games. This game offensively looked much more like the ones where they were, when they

were really rolling, where Luca had kind of had the game on a string and was orchestrating stuff. They got LeBron the ball in places where he could do all sorts of damage where they're trying. to score or creating for others. There was just so much going on here. And Luca is just one of those guys who is able to influence games even when his shot isn't falling. And there are going to be two or three times a game. We all did it with Kobe where we go, I didn't love that shot.

And you just move on because they're going to be 15 times a game where you go, holy hell, what was that? My favorite. it. And this wasn't even that big of play. My favorite of all of them on Saturday was Luka goes in, drives to the lane, draws three people, and goes behind his back, no look. To DFS. To DFS at the three point line and hit him right in that spot. Because like, you know, when you hit a three point shooter, like with a pass, like they want it in a certain spot, like if they got to go low,

they got to go high, it throws off the rhythm. He went behind the back, no look to DFS. like underhand basically and hit him perfectly. And I'm staying to myself, holy bleep. Like you're going to like that kind of thing, the ability to go backwards, sideways, into the corner, places where you didn't think a ball could go. Like he drew attention from Memphis all night long. And so if he, what was the 8 of 18 in this one, so like the shot volume wasn't even crazy. 8 of 18, got to the line 12 times, generally speaking, really picked out that balance between drawing fouls and trying to put the ball in the basket.

Did that well. The only thing that didn't really go for him was the three-point shot. I'm starting to really enjoy, not that I wasn't before, how he manipulates games. Because it's a lot like getting the enjoyment of seeing how LeBron. Brian LeBron would manipulate. manipulate games. Speaking of head of awareness, I also want to point out play that involves LeBron and also DFS. There was a play where Luca was attempting a hit ahead, full court to LeBron that I think didn't quite have the heat on it that was necessary. And it was going to get

picked off. But LeBron poked it away, basically preventing a turnover. The ball ends up going to DFS. And DFS then sees that there's no defender around LeBron. He sets up LeBron. for a play at the basket. But like to have two players with that type of court awareness and the spontaneity and the creativity to do those sorts of things like LeBron and Luca do, like to really see the whole game as a chessboard and like all the different manipulations. And, you know, and LeBron's recognizing like DFS is right there.

If I can get that to DFS, that'll, we can satisfy. salvage something out of this. Also, too, DFS deserves a lot of credit in this game for the defense that he played. He had, I believe, 11 points and hit a few threes, but there were several plays where he either bodied Jaron Jackson Jr. into misses or was battling Zach Eadie on the boards, like, you know, just furiously trying to box him out so the Lakers get. the loose ball. Like DFS played a... They really, for the last game of a...

Yeah. For the last game of a trip, I think they all just, you know, the effort and the intensity in this game, like they understood what this game. We'll quit here because, you know, and obviously Monday's game against Houston is a really big one. If the Lakers have any prayer or any hope at all of bumping back up to that two spot,

they need to win both of these games against the Rockets. The first one on Monday. But this was a significant win for the Lakers. By winning, not only do they clinch the tiebreaker against Memphis, they move a game ahead of them. So functionally, they're two games now ahead of Memphis. They're two and a half games ahead of the Clippers who are suddenly playing very well and look very dangerous.

The Warriors are continued to play well. So the Lakers are two and a half games ahead of them, the Golden State currently sitting in the seven spot. So, you know, they've got a chance to move up, certainly maybe even to catch Denver at three, a game and a half in front of the Lakers right now. But really, you got to watch that seven and, you know, keeping that distance,

two and a half games, a huge game on Monday to try to maintain that and potentially even move up. Real quick before we go, just because there's going to be no reason to bring it up again, but it's just too hilarious not to. there was a sequence where LeBron missed a shot at the rim and then Vando got the offensive rebound, but then got blocked on the putback. And the ball ends up squirting out, I think, to Gabe.

And that LeBron is not even attempting to set a screen for Gabe against Jaron Jackson Jr. He's just looking. Right. He's kind of just looking and being a body in the way of Jaron Jackson Jr. Triple J, like, brushes up against LeBron and does the most egregious flop, like falling to the ground that initially gets called as an offensive foul on LeBron. LeBron is immediately doing the whirl around, like, review it, review it, review it. They review it. The call gets reversed.

And referee Tyler Ford said the following. After review, Jackson falls to the floor in a manner that's not commensurate with. the contact from James. Therefore, the play has been overturned to a no call. Jackson's reaction is both theatrical and secondary. Therefore, I love that. Therefore, a flop has been added on Jackson. That is a technical file. He did everything short of sending Triple J to his room without dinner and grounding him. Like, he was appalled upon review. Theatrical and secondary is currently in the Catford seat to be. my fantasy football team next year.

It felt to me like the review, because the review took a long time, it felt to me like the review was then being like, okay, is the technical foul that Reeves going to take for the flop? Is that the most we can penalize, Jerns Jackson, like, can we suspend them right now? Can we suspend them? They were so many things because they had to go back and be like, you see it. It's like, is it a file? Is it not a foul?

No, it's not a foul. Okay, now we have to figure out if it's a dive. And so that's why it took so long. God, that was, and you know, you could even see Jackson on the bench, like when they showed his reaction, he didn't really, he didn't really pretend. No. React like, oh, what do you know, he didn't get up and bed. He mostly kind of smiled and like, okay, you got me. No, no.

I like to stand on whatsoever. I gave it a try and it did not work. And so, yeah, so, you know, move on to the next. So anyway, big win for the Lakers, 134, 127. They have Sunday off. They'll play the Rockets on Monday. Obviously plenty to unpack about that one. We'll do it on a full show for tomorrow, Andy.

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