Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - LAKERS POSTCAST Cavs Beat The Lakers 122-110

Starting point is 00:00:06 You are Locked-on Lakers Postcast. Part of Locked-on Sports Los Angeles on the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Lakers welcome the NBA's best team to town. Austin Reeves takes his game to an all-star level, and the Lakers also welcome two new players to the team. We talk about it all on the Lockdown Lakers postcast. Again, disappointing night as the Lakers lose 122, 110 to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Starting point is 00:00:39 everybody. I appreciate your joining me. Talking Laker basketball on New Year's Eve. If you're a Laker fan and you saw what happened tonight, a lot of questions and also maybe a lot of answers for this team. Disappointing, of course, always to lose. It's always disappointing, as I said in previous shows when the Lakers lose to a previous team that LeBron James played on. With disappointing when they lost to the Cavs the first time, the heat, and then now, of course, Cleveland sweeps to this series from the Lakers. Again, the Cavs showed why they are the best team in the NBA.

Starting point is 00:01:09 which is pretty amazing because we talk about star power all the time. And for the Lakers, they have the star power. For Cleveland, not exactly. Outside of Donovan Mitchell, how many casual NBA fans can name more than two players on the Cavs? And so for the Cavs, they're playing complete team basketball and wins is all that matters, right? We don't care about the individual awards. It's not like the players say, hey, you know what? You can hold my rookie of the year trophy, my MVP trophy at your house for a week.

Starting point is 00:01:36 It's not the way it works. As fans, we're concerned about, winning championships and parades. And so for the Lakers, we're used to it. We've seen a bunch of them, and we want to see the Lakers win another one. How close are they to getting to that next parade? We'll talk about all that tonight show. Again, happy New Year to you.

Starting point is 00:01:52 Again, my name is Dave Palais. Cover the Lakers every single game with you. And again, talking Lakers on the post game, locked on sports, locked on Los Angeles. They do a great job. And again, Brian and Andy, if you need Laker coverage every day, they're there for you as well. But I'm here for you on the post game show.

Starting point is 00:02:08 and unfortunately, it stinks to in the postgame show when the team loses, because I feel it just the way you feel it as well. BC, I see you in the chat. Thanks for joining me on New Year's Eve. If you have a question about the Lakers, you want to talk to a little Laker basketball. I'll be happy to do it tonight as well as we head into 2025. But again, happy New Year to everybody out there.

Starting point is 00:02:27 I hope you guys had a great 2024, and it's even better and healthy and happy for you in 2025. So for this Laker team, again, with Cleveland coming to town, I don't know about you, but I felt back to back games from Cleveland. This is a perfect chance for the Lakers to get a win. I understand Cleveland's really good. So winning seven straight coming into tonight's game, obviously eight straight wins. They have the league best 29 victories right now. But I'm thinking a tough game against the Warriors.

Starting point is 00:02:54 I know it's not a long flight. They travel down to Los Angeles. And LeBron James so much to celebrate with LeBron turning 40. And the talk that, hey, guess what, I can play another five or seven years, LeBron says. Kind of exciting. When you watch LeBron, the way he is as far as physical and fast, and you're going, who are we to tell him no? But for the Lakers, it didn't end up that way.

Starting point is 00:03:14 I also thought maybe there'll be a little bit of a charge with two new players, and we'll talk about those guys as well. Lakers did make a trade. We have been on Rob Polinko the entire month of December to pull something off because he promised it to us. If the team wasn't playing championship basketball, maybe it was time for the Lakers to make a move. And he did make a move.

Starting point is 00:03:31 He just happened to make it, you know, right at the very end of the month. That's fine. I think it's as we will get into the new players. Are they the players you wanted? We'll talk about all that stuff. But right now for the Lakers, unfortunately, it was not the way we hope things would go. And so we'll look at where things started to go bad. First of all, the Lakers outscored in the first quarter, 34 to 30.

Starting point is 00:03:54 Starting lineup looked like this, was Anthony Davis. It was Rui. A lot of rumors are. A lot of people think Rui is going to lose the starting spot. I like Rui as a starter. I think the problem with the Lakers is the bench. play and the spark that you need off of the bench. It's one of the reasons DeAngelo Russell is no longer here is he was inconsistent.

Starting point is 00:04:11 Austin Reeves is playing great basketball, Max Christie, LeBron back in the lineup. Again, LeBron 40 years old playing an all-star level basketball. Can LeBron bring the energy that he's brought since he came back from missing those nine days? Lakers, again, defensively, they have been very good of late. And the Lakers, as we all know at the beginning of the Lakers were the 26th ranked team in the NBA and defense. and that's not great when you have 30 teams in the league, but they've been playing so well. They've been ranked number one or number two over the last seven, eight games.

Starting point is 00:04:41 So the Lakers defense, that was going to be key against Cleveland. Well, first quarter, the Cavs came out on fire, looking very fast, very athletic. The Lakers know early that this was their game, that they were basically going to be more athletic than the Lakers, and they jumped out to a 15-point lead. And so it became very frustrating to go, and the Lakers going to be in this game at all.

Starting point is 00:05:03 well, the Lakers got in the game quickly. First quarter, the Lakers went on a 14-2 run. At the end of the quarter, they kept things from getting blown out. And so that 14-and-2 run made it feel like, hey, there's a chance as you're only done by four at the end. So the two newest Lakers jumped into the game in the first quarter. And I don't know if it was one of those deals where J.J. Reddick said, look, let's just get their feet wet right now. Let's welcome to the team. It was obvious they had no idea what they were doing offensively.

Starting point is 00:05:29 It would be like if they pulled one of us out of the crowd and said, hey, we want you to to jump in and run up and down the court a few times with Lakers. We wouldn't know the spacing. We wouldn't know basically who to get the ball to and where you're supposed to be. And it became kind of uncomfortable. Now, with both guys and join Finney Smith and Shake Milton, both those guys are known as pretty good defensive guys. Finney Smith's known as both a two-way guy as well. Not only is a very good defensively, but offensively.

Starting point is 00:05:56 Some people say he's really the most underrated player in the entire NBA and this was a great deal. We'll talk more about that in a second. but both appeared in the first. Fannie Smith, he got his two points quickly on basically a putback and shake Milton, not easy. Steps in and knocks down a three-pointer right in front of the home crowd wearing a brand new Laker uniform and the crowd went nuts for him. And that was pretty cool to welcome him into the Laker family when he makes his first three. LeBron James led the Lakers on scoring 10 points in eight minutes while Austin Reeves had nine points four rebounds. The Lakers turnover problems though continued six turnovers in the first quarter. Reeves had three of them. LeBron had two of them. It's one of those things that really good teams don't do.

Starting point is 00:06:36 They don't turn the ball over. They don't give second chances. They don't create breaks for other teams. If you notice the Lakers and maybe it's an age thing, this is the one thing that I'll say with LeBron that I wonder is it an age thing or is it's been up and down the court so many times in my life. I don't feel like I need to give the effort. But the Lakers get hurt on these turnovers a lot because of LeBron.

Starting point is 00:06:55 Not the fact that he turns it over, but the fact that he can't run with his man down the four. How many times do we see the trailer? with an easy basket. It happens all the time. And it always seems like it's LeBron is the reason why that trailer happened. If it's AD, you understand it's a big man sometimes that the big man's not going to run down the floor. But with LeBron, as fast as he is.

Starting point is 00:07:14 And if you've been to a Laker game in person, LeBron's athleticism is so amazing for the fact, not only is he big, strong, has a body that's like no other, but he at this age is still one of the faster guys on the floor. It's an effort deal. And so when you're seeing the trailer guy get the easy buckets, It becomes very frustrating. For the Cavins, Evan Mobley, Donovan Mitchell, they had nine points apiece to lead Cleveland. Again, Cleveland led after one, 3430.

Starting point is 00:07:40 Second quarter, Cows outscore the Lakers 2423, so the Lakers didn't win either quarter in the first half. The Lakers did go on an 8-0 score and run in that quarter. Lakers at one point took the lead. Lakers were leading 4139, but it turned around really quick. The Lakers held that lead would seem like for just seconds before Cleveland win on a a run. Lakers went ice cold in the quarter, shooting two at 12 at one point, and it looked like what can they do to get a bucket? Lakers go into the half trailing the calves 58-53. So here's the deal. Lakers in the first half, they were led by Austin Reeves, who had 16 points, four rebounds,

Starting point is 00:08:18 four assists. LeBron James only had four points in the second quarter. He finished with 14 and, excuse me, two points in the second quarter, finishing with 12 for the half, two rebounds, two assists. Anthony Davis was the Lakers' only other player to be in double digits. AD had 11 points, five rebounds. Little disappointing, right? So you can figure out quickly that this is kind of the Cavs five against three or six against three when you see all the weapons that Cleveland had. Cavs Donovan Mitchell led them with 15 points.

Starting point is 00:08:48 Jared Allen had 14 points, eight rebounds at the half, two blocks. And also really, he supplied the energy for Cleveland. Jared Allen, fantastic player. If you don't watch a lot of Cleveland basketball was fantastic tonight. always easy to do when you have big guys in the paint for the Lakers. Lakers shot 41% from the field, only 24% from three point range. One of the reasons why the Lakers made that trade. Lakers only made four three-pointers at a 17 attempts in the first half. Cab shot 44% from the field, 32% from behind the arc. Not great, seven to 22, but compared to the Lakers, much better.

Starting point is 00:09:23 Cavs out rebounded the Lakers, 26, 24. Cleveland dished out 15 assists compared to the Lakers 9. each team had seven turnovers. The Lakers, one bright spot was the Lakers scored 14 points off the Cavs turnovers. Cleveland only had eight. So these are the things that you point to as far as winning basketball and why one team has a fantastic record and one team is kind of just surviving and hanging in there right now is a team that's kind of middle of the pack in their conference. Whereas Cleveland, not too many people and maybe even today, people aren't picking Cleveland to win the championship, but they have been the story of the NBA season in the first half for sure. Lakers dominated the paint with 32 points compared to 24 for the calves in the first half. And that's about where you stood. There's a reason why the Lakers trailed at the half in this game, 58, 53, because they don't do the small things. They don't do the things you're supposed to do.

Starting point is 00:10:13 You don't hold on on the ball. They aren't great in transition defense. And at the same time, it seems like when a failure happens with the Lakers, they're so quick to hang their heads that they can't get back and can't get back and play defense. They aren't getting the solid effort from everybody on this team. they need to do a better job of being on the same page. And so it becomes a little bit frustrating as a Laker fan as far as what they're doing, moving forward and what they need to do to fix things a little bit. So it's one of those.

Starting point is 00:10:41 We'll talk about the second half and a little bit as well. But the Lakers right now, when you saw them in the first half, are you thinking in your mind, man, there's still a chance that can play better basketball than what they're doing, or are you feeling, you know, this Laker team right now didn't come out ready to play? Are you disappointed by the effort that you? saw from the Lakers right there as far as the way they came out and play, the way they started that game.

Starting point is 00:11:03 Did you expect a little bit more? I sure did. I thought a lot of things were going to be in their favor, not only being at home, the holidays, the bronze birthday, two new players on the team. I expected a little bit better effort from the Lakers for sure. I want to mention the people over at Rocket RX. Today's episode is brought to you by Rocket RX.

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Starting point is 00:12:34 going to come out on fire or not? Well, Cleveland outscored the Lakers 2925. Again, the Lakers didn't win a quarter. Lakers were trailing the cows, 8778, and the cabs made seven, three-pointers in the quarter. So all of a sudden, not only you're not playing defense, down below, but all of a sudden, every shot that Cleveland's throwing up is going in. Again, seven, three pointers in the quarter is pretty amazing. Cabs you could not stop them.

Starting point is 00:13:00 So very frustrating when you talk about home quarter advantage. I understand every court's, you know, the same in length, the basket's the same height. But the Lakers at Crypto, it's a little bit different than most quarters. And we've talked about the lighting situation. The Laker lighting situation is different than most places where they black out the crowd and it's like you're being on a stage. And sometimes if the teams come to L.A., yes, everybody wants to be the Lakers. Yes, everybody wants to play in front of the stars. Yes, everybody wants to play well in front of LeBron James and future Hall of Famers.

Starting point is 00:13:28 I got it. But for Cleveland to come out and shoot the lights out was insane. And the Lakers had no answer for him at all. Those three quarters, the Lakers basically relied on three players. Anthony Davis had 22 points through three. He also had 11 rebounds. Austin Reeves had 18 points, eight rebounds, eight assists. And LeBron James, he still had his 14.

Starting point is 00:13:49 The one thing was Anthony Davis stepped up. So Anthony Davis had a big third quarter, and you're thinking, well, maybe Anthony Davis is going to be the person that carried this team to a win. It did not work out that way for the Cavs. They closed it out in the fourth quarter. The Lakers at one point looked like they were going to make a run. 251 remaining in the game. The Lakers were down 112-107. That was off the big LeBron James three-pointer in the corner.

Starting point is 00:14:13 And that was basically it. That was basically where it fell short for the Lakers. Very frustrating for the Cavs that win their eighth game in a row. the 29th on the season. They improved a 29 and 4. And the Cavs swept the two-game series from the Lakers. So, you know, how good is this team? Well, you can measure yourself against the teams that are the talk of who can win an NBA championship.

Starting point is 00:14:36 The Cavs score 22-second chance points. That comes down to what we were just talking about a second ago about getting back on defense. And if you turn the ball over and transition defense, what you're doing. Now, so JJ Redick understands good of basketball and he understands bad at basketball. We all do, right? We've all watched the NBA long enough to understand when you're watching something that's not very good. Lakers fall to 18 and 15 on the season. Well, what are you going to do?

Starting point is 00:14:59 It's not like high school where you can sit there and say, you know what, we're going to start benching guys. Meaning you can bench almost anybody on that team for effort except LeBron and AD. Everyone else you can sit there and bench. It's kind of hard to tell LeBron, hey, you're going to sit and you're going to sit next to me until I tell you you're ready to go in until you learn your lesson. It's not high school basketball. That's not what's going to happen in LeBron James. it's an effort deal. And LeBron's effort has been outstanding when this team plays well. The thing is this team doesn't play well when LeBron's not ready to give full effort.

Starting point is 00:15:28 I can't explain tonight's game from LeBron. Very disappointing. Now, I understand LeBron wants to have a big game, you know, it's coming off his birthday. He knows he's a talk of sports right now. What he's doing is amazing. But for LeBron James, not to come out in the same fire, the same effort, I don't know what he did to celebrate his 40th birthday yesterday, but it sure looked like he had a good time. And that's the disappointing thing. You expect a little bit more. more. It's a little bit more for what this Laker team is doing. And as far as LeBron or Austin Reeves or Anthony Davis, it's hard to point the finger at Anthony Davis. It's hard to point the finger at Austin Reeves. Austin Reeves is playing great basketball right now. If you're a

Starting point is 00:16:06 Laker fan, you have to be very pleased with what you're seeing from Austin Rees because all the talk that the Lakers is going to pick up a guy that was a name that everybody knew, whether it was a Kevin Durant type, or even a Darren Fox or Lori Market. Any, of those guys, a guy that's a named guy that can sit there and be a legitimate threat offensively, the Lakers didn't do that. The Lakers went and got two guys that are basically defensive players. Of course, Finney Smith can sit there and he can put the ball in the basket. They both can shoot threes, shake and Finney Smith can do both, but it's not the star power that maybe you thought you were getting. Maybe the Lakers didn't think they needed it. But at the same time, it kind of blocked them for making future trades to get that star.

Starting point is 00:16:46 This is it. This is what Rob Polinka's big move was. and we'll see how it plays out. But right now, the way things started a little bit, kind of a disappointment. I'll go all the way back to the Lakers when they acquired Michael Thompson. All right, I've said, I've been a Laker fan for a long time. I've been following this team since Magic Johnson won his first championship. I was a little kid.

Starting point is 00:17:05 It was the first NBA game I ever remember watching, but watching Magic Johnson win the championship, I was hooked on Laker basketball. But when the Lakers were able to acquire Michael Thompson, guess what? He had a big game. If you're like me, do you remember he shows up to a game was a Sunday game at the forum, Lakers and Celtics,

Starting point is 00:17:21 and the talk was Michael Thompson could guard Kevin McAil, and he could. And Michael Thompson didn't have his number 43 jersey at the time. They gave him a jersey with a double zero on it, no name. And he played really, really well. And immediately we all fell in love with Michael Thompson going, okay, this is what the Lakers need. Nobody stops Kevin McHale. But yet the Lakers now traded for a guy,

Starting point is 00:17:41 yeah, that could stop Kevin McHale. Jerry West pulled off a miracle right there. Now, is this the kind of move that Rob Polinka is going to hang his hat on and go remember when he made that trade and he shipped de angela russell out i don't know we're gonna have to wait and see but at the same time it's not the big name not the big move i thought they were getting so here we go you have dorian finney smith who comes to the lakers he played 20 minutes tonight as i said he looked lost he looked lost i know it's not easy joining a new team but they kind of put him out there i think the fans wanted to see him j j j reddick i think wanted to get the rest off so before i'm too critical of

Starting point is 00:18:13 him in 20 minutes, he was one of four from the field, O of two from three point range, who finished with two points. That, of course, was just a putback. There was nothing that was outstanding about him. Now, he has the reputation of being a guy that possibly could be a starter and replace Rui in the lineup because he was a starter before he came to the Lakers. I like Rui where he is. I'm a Rui fan.

Starting point is 00:18:35 I think his ultimate team player. You know, it was strange, though, once that deal was made and maybe it's just coincidence, Rui did not look like Rui tonight. maybe it's one of those where he knows the rumors too that he's going to the bench no idea but man they they needed ruy to play one of his typical games and he didn't ruy was 30 minutes tonight on the floor three of 10 from uh from the field oh or three from three point range only had seven points only had five rebounds um no assists i mean he wasn't much of a team player tonight if anything he hampered the team he's a minus 17 and the plus minus today ruy did not play one of his better games so

Starting point is 00:19:11 kind of disappointing right there as far as Dorian Finney Smith's first game ever with the Lakers. Shake Milton, he steps in. Again, he made his first three-pointer, first shot that he got. He drilled it. That hit two three-pointers on the night. He had six points, two of four from three-point ranges. Really the only shots he shot.

Starting point is 00:19:30 He only shot four times. They're all three-point attempts. Made two of them in ten minutes. That was it. Two rebounds. But it was one of those where I think J.J. Reddick knew that these guys, being on the floor with three guys they didn't know wasn't going to help. And so they know they tried to put them on the floor at the same time together.

Starting point is 00:19:48 It didn't work out real well for the Lakers. And so for the Laker bench play, it was bad. I mean, it was a total of 12 points for the Lakers off the bench. Dalton Connect, bad time to have a bad time. Dalton Connect, 22 minutes tonight. He was two of eight from the field, 0 of 5 from the three point range, four points for him. Right when you think that maybe he's found his game and he get excited, he picked a bad time. It took a bad time not to step up for the Lakers because they needed them.

Starting point is 00:20:13 They were short-handed tonight. Cam Reddish, 19 points, excuse me, 19 minutes, 19 minutes, zero points, zero points for Cam. O from three from the field, 0-4-2 for three-point range. I don't know about you, man, but when I'm watching Laker basketball and there's ball movement and they're throwing that ball around and all of a sudden and they swing it and it's Cam, and he's the one that shoots the three, it drives me out of my mind. I can't take it. Yeah, go crazy that it's Cam shooting the three because we know.

Starting point is 00:20:41 Cam can't shoot threes. Cam is there for defense. Stop throwing them the ball to shoot threes because they can't figure out the clock. They can't figure out exactly 24 seconds of what it means we have to get the shot off. It's amazing how Cam has to shoot that ball so many times because the Lakers haven't his hands when the clock is winding down. It's bad basketball. Cam Redis should never be shooting three-pointers.

Starting point is 00:21:02 Cam Redis should not be shooting. If Cam Radish is on this team right now as a guy that is a defensive specialist, the way so-called Dennis Rodman type guy was, then sit there and pick up the rebounds, get the ball to somebody that can score and do your job holding the defender in place. But right now it's extremely frustrating watching the Lakers throw the ball around and get it to Cam Radish when he shoots

Starting point is 00:21:22 and knowing it's not going to go in. It's like an eclipse. He's just not the guy we want to rely on to be the guy that shoots three-pointers. So it becomes very frustrating. And I feel the same way with Anthony Davis. If Anthony Davis is shooting 30% from three-point range, stop. Stop shooting that way.

Starting point is 00:21:40 And for the Lakers, man, the proof is in the pudding when this team doesn't win games and doesn't score because you have guys who are better shooters than these guys and they aren't able to do it. So, again, very frustrating. We're getting more into the Lakers and maybe it's a little bit of the point and fingers deal, but it's frustrating to be embarrassed at home of what happened tonight. I want to mention Rocket Money. Again, did Rocket Money help you find any subscriptions you forgot about what you were paying for, maybe even paying for twice? that definitely happened to me. Actually happened to me today. Literally before the show, I went through my phone

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Starting point is 00:23:13 That's rocketmoney.com slash locked on. Again, rocketmoney. com slash locked on. Very simple right there for you to use and highly recommend it as well. So as we sit there and we're talking about, you know, pointing fingers at guys and who can do a good job, who does a bad job. Look at some of the guys that do a good job.

Starting point is 00:23:33 Austin Reeves. Is this a flash in the pan for Austin. Reeves. Is this the best Austin Reeves or is this the new Austin Reeves? Is this the Austin Reeves we're going to see for the remainder of the year? Austin Reeves has been outstanding the last few games, okay, including hitting the game winner against Golden State. So Austin Reeves tonight, 38 minutes, 35 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds, one rebound shy of a triple double, had triple double just the other day. Austin Reeves is playing great. Now, can he bring that same effort, 82 games a year? Is this the kind of guy that we see his career completely changed? This is the

Starting point is 00:24:05 we remember that Austin Reeves went from being a little bit better version of an Alex Caruso to all of a sudden being in Austin Reeves that the rest of the NBA is aware of and a guy that's maybe a potential All-Star. This is what the Lakers need. But they need this kind of effort from a lot of guys on this team, meaning you know when the ball is thrown up in there and they're going to tip this thing off, that the Lakers are in a position to basically run the table and win a game. Cleveland, when they take the floor right now, Cleveland has all the confidence in the world. There's a reason why they're 28 and 4, 29 and 4.

Starting point is 00:24:36 There's a reason why they've won eight straight games. There's a reason why they're the best team in the east. Cleveland is all the confidence in the world. In the NBA, we all know how hard it is to go back-to-back road games and win them both. Cleveland just did it against Golden State and the Lakers. Pretty hard to do and pretty impressive. Lakers have back-to-backs coming up. Lakers will play the Trailblazers on Thursday, play the Hawks on Friday.

Starting point is 00:24:56 Can they do it at home without getting on an airplane? These are the kind of things the Lakers have to fix quickly. Now, at the same time, we all know tomorrow is January 1st. What are JJ Redick's plans? Is there going to be a practice on January 1st? Are the new guys going to get a chance to basically learn the system, get more comfortable with their teammates? Are the Lakers going to be ready to compete? And that's one of the things that becomes frustrating because I understand it's January 1st.

Starting point is 00:25:21 At the same time, you guys are pro athletes. You don't play this game year around. I'm sorry, your boss didn't give you the day off. I'd love to find out the Lakers held a serious practice tomorrow and the Lakers got these guys involved because they can't play short-handed and expect to win the next two games. You can't go into a situation in your schedule. We have all these

Starting point is 00:25:38 road games, I mean, all these home games and you can't pull it out. So Trailblazers are their team. They definitely should take advantage of. And at the same time, the Hawks are a team that got the best of us the first time we faced them. It would be great to see the Lakers pull out two

Starting point is 00:25:54 wins to finish out this week, but they have to have those guys get involved. They have to have the new guys step up and and be part of this team and be ready to go. We're done past the stage of, hey, welcome to the Lakers, hope your uniform fits. This is your locker. This is the hotel you're staying at and you're going to love Los Angeles. Forget all that stuff.

Starting point is 00:26:15 It's all about wins. And the Lakers right now, they're barely above 500. The Lakers need to put together a stretch that can make it more impressive. So that's what we're at right now. It's, again, it's frustrating. Again, I'm looking at Krusty Critter here. It says, Cavs are a better team. Yeah, the calves are a better team.

Starting point is 00:26:32 I wonder what LeBron thinks. Right now, the calves look really good. The calves look really, really good, you know? And again, I'm frustrated with the loss. I understand it's Cleveland, but I'm frustrated where the Lakers are at right now. So here's the deal. Let's look at the Lakers. What I always tell you, every single show, I want to see the Lakers be at least the fourth seat, if not better,

Starting point is 00:26:51 heading into the postseason. It's only December, but the Lakers have to give me signs that they're going to put together a serious run because there are teams behind them that I'm expecting a run from. The Lakers right now, last time we did the show, Lakers were moving up in the right direction. Lakers fall all the way to number seven tonight. With that loss, they fall to number seven. Which teams are in front of them? Oklahoma City, guess what?

Starting point is 00:27:13 They've won 12 games in a row. Oklahoma City's not going anywhere. They're 27 and 5. Again, Chad Holmgren, they haven't had them most of the year, and the Oklahoma City Thunder continued to roll. Memphis Grizzlies. Lakers beat them a few weeks ago. That was one of the better wins of the season, if not the best one of the season.

Starting point is 00:27:28 Grizzlies are second seat at 23 and 11. Houston's 21 and 11. We're going to see the rockets right after we see the Hawks, by the way. We'll see the rockets in less than a week in Houston. Dallas Mavericks playing without Luca. They're 20 and 13. They're the four seed. That's where we want the Lakers to be.

Starting point is 00:27:45 Mavericks have lost two games in a row, five and five in their last 10. Maybe that fall is coming for them. Denver Nuggets, team that always scares us. Nuggets at 18 and 13 are the five seed. Clippers are now ahead of the Lakers at 19 and 14. They're getting Kauai back. So Clippers are supposed to be a better team. We're going to see the Clippers really soon as well in the new,

Starting point is 00:28:03 new arena. Lakers at 7, Minnesota at 8, San Antonio at 9, and Golden State is at 10. Teams not in it right now. Who are these guys could possibly make a run that Lakers have to look over their shoulder to worry about? You have Phoenix, who I think a lot of people think should be a playoff team. It'll be interesting to see what Phoenix does with Kevin Durant, because you're hearing rumors that Kevin Durant could be traded. Sacramento Kings behind them, Portland at 11 and 21.

Starting point is 00:28:27 We're going to see them on Thursday. Again, Portland is 3 and 7 in their last 10. Good sign that the Portland's coming to town. It's a good team to get good against. Utah Jazz, 7 and 24, Pelicans, 5 and 28. That rounds out your Western Conference. And for the East, in case you're wondering, it's Cleveland number one, just like we said.

Starting point is 00:28:45 And look at Cleveland, just rolling. Look at this. Not only it's Cleveland rolling. Cleveland has a big lead as the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is 29 and 4 with Boston behind them at 24-9. games back of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nix are three, Orlando's four, Milwaukee's five. Not going to exactly worry about it.

Starting point is 00:29:04 We will see the Hawks on Friday. Hawks are 18 and 15, 11 games back. We know the Hawks got the best of the Lakers, and again, that the Lakers should have won, but it was a very disappointing, very disappointing road trip at that time, if you recall, the Lakers played horrible against the Miami Heat. The effort was terrible outside of LeBron in that game.

Starting point is 00:29:22 And then the game in Atlanta that they lost was one of those. They shouldn't have lost at all. It was the one where Tray Young hit that game. game winning three-pointer and the Lakers, good teams don't do what the Lakers did. It likes to the Lakers basically rebound win both those games this week. Again, Portland on Thursday, join me please after that game. And then you'll have the Hawks on Friday. Both games are at home for the Lakers.

Starting point is 00:29:44 So that will do it for tonight. Appreciate you hanging out with me on New Year's Eve. Already on the East Coast, the ball is dropped. I love the different videos that are putting out on social media of the ball dropping out of Aaron Judge's glove, big Dodger fan. So the highlight of 2024 is definitely the Dodgers won in the World Series. We'd love to see the Lakers win one in 2025. So an exciting time with you guys, a happy New Year.

Starting point is 00:30:08 Thank you so much for being with me. We'll see you on Thursday after the Lakers host the Portland Trailblazers. Good night, everybody.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - LAKERS POSTCAST Cavs Beat The Lakers 122-110

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