Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - LAKERS POSTCAST Lakers beat the Hawks 119-102

Starting point is 00:00:06 You are a Locked-on Lakers Postcast. Part of Locked-on Sports Los Angeles on the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. thinkers wrap up the four-game homestand-in style. Anthony Davis is back and LeBron James sets another NBA record. We talk about it all on the Lockdown Lakers Postcast. I'm Dave Palais. First of all, let's get ready for the to tackle the NFL season with Fan Dules,

Starting point is 00:00:35 America's number one sports book, because right now new customers can bet $5 and get $250 in bonus bets if you win. So it's a big night for the Los Angeles Lakers. They wrap up their four-game homestand with a three-and-one record. For the Lakers, the only loss on this homestand came against the calves. Of course, it was disappointing. You want to win them all. But for the Lakers, at least they finish the homestand with the winning record.

Starting point is 00:00:59 At the same time, they take care of business against the Atlanta Hawks, winning 119-102. So it was a big night for the Lakers because so many things are. on the line. Number one, it's back to back. Two is, can they get revenge against Atlanta Hawks for a game that was at one of the worst losses of the season early on when the Lakers had a chance to win? If you recall, it was the Lakers that their miscues cost them. And it was Trey Young that hits the game winning three. It was heartbreaking. It was one of those. What was the end of a road trip, where the Lakers had to flyback after a disappointing loss from Atlanta? Could they get paid back

Starting point is 00:01:33 tonight against the Hawks? And they absolutely did. So Lakers, again, they win 119, 102. who had everything tonight. Had LeBron James and Anthony Davis back in the starting lineup, a lot of good news. And at the same time, you also had the new guys to figure out what the role was going to be. And also could some guys get back on track? A lot of good things happened tonight.

Starting point is 00:01:55 We're going to discuss it all. Again, I appreciate your comments throughout the show. If you have a comment on what you see, what you like, what you think the team needs to do to be a little bit better. I'm here for all of it. Again, my name is Dave Palais. I've covered the Lakers for a number one year, number of years as a credentialed member of the media.

Starting point is 00:02:11 But now here I am talking postgame basketball with you, again, on the Lockdown Lakers post game show. And again, I'm here with you every single game. So also, you can follow me on social media. My name's right there in the corner of the screen. If you have a question, you want to direct message me. I will answer all comments as well. But if you're a Laker fan like me, this is the show that you need to be part of.

Starting point is 00:02:31 Also, if you love your Laker coverage, don't forget about Brian and Andy. They're here every single day for you. I'm just here for the post game. Brian and Annie do a great job on Lockdown Lakers every single day. So again, your chance to follow them. Again, this show and every other show can be heard anywhere you get your podcast. So recommend you check out the other things we have to offer concerning Los Angeles sports, locked on Los Angeles.

Starting point is 00:02:55 All right. Let's check things out. We'll start off right at the beginning. We're going to go right from the first quarter. So it was great to see that the starting lineup looked like the starting lineup. Nothing against Jackson Hayes, but when Jackson Hayes, you know, comes off an injury and he's starting for Anthony Davis. It's a little disappointing.

Starting point is 00:03:09 It's a step back because Anthony Davis is one of the best. He's a guy who's going to be a future Hall of Famer, gold middle winner. And you know he has a special chemistry with LeBron. AD misses last night's game, comes back today. Second game of back-to-backs for the Lakers. And it was great to see the gang back together. Let's get an idea of what this Laker team really is because we want to know how far can they possibly go.

Starting point is 00:03:31 If you're a Laker fan like me, you understand that unless you win a championship, the season was a waste. So you have Anthony Davis in the lineup. You have Bruey back in the lineup. You have Austin Reeves in the lineup. You have Max Chrissy lineup, and then you have LeBron James. So things are going great in that situation.

Starting point is 00:03:47 Everything's looking good for the Lakers. Lakers outscored the Hawks in the first quarter. 3128. They're off to a good start. Lakers shot 48% from the field. They made 17% from behind the arc. They struggled there. They struggled again in three-point shooting,

Starting point is 00:04:01 one of seven just in the first quarter. but Anthony Davis stepped up big. It wasn't one of those where Anthony Davis put his toe in the water. He came out like a reckon ball. Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 10.7 rebounds, LeBron James, six points, four assists. And Rui, this was to me the bright spot in the quarter because we've discussed a lot this week about since the trade

Starting point is 00:04:21 that sent D'Angelo Russell to the Nets, what's happened to Rui? A lot of rumors that Dorian Finney Smith was going to be a person that could be a starter for the Lakers and maybe it rubbed Rui the wrong way. I don't know in that situation, not in the locker room, not understanding what's going through his head. But, you know, fearful that maybe he's looking over his shoulder a little bit, and he has struggled since the trade. Even though it shouldn't affect him at all, he knows the guys on the floor better than anybody.

Starting point is 00:04:48 He has not played well the last couple nights. He came out, though, in the first quarter, and right off the bat, he scored six points. So we're like, okay, good. The old Rui is back. The ultimate team player, a guy who fits perfect with superstars and Anthony Davis and LeBron James. Rui in the first quarter with six points. For the Hawks, they shot 39% from the field, 37% for three-point range, making just three of eight. Now, always, Trey Young is the person when you think about the Hawks, about who's the person that can hurt you.

Starting point is 00:05:17 Trey Young did this against the Lakers in the first game, where he didn't, it wasn't really effective, also wasn't a guy that you were fearful of, but Trey Young finished on fire for the Hawks the first time they faced the Lakers. Trey Young in the first quarter only had five points. You knew he was going to get his and he did. We'll get into the part of the game where Trey Young kind of took over for the Hawks. Jalen Johnson, if you're not a diehard NBA fan, you don't watch a lot of game with Jalen Johnson's a tremendous rebounder. Very good player for the Hawks.

Starting point is 00:05:44 Seven points, three rebounds for them. But again, the Lakers outscore the Hawks in the first quarter, 3128. So there's an advantage there. What can the Lakers do to extend that lead? Well, the Lakers, in fact, they got a little bit of a little bit of a shot in the arm right there. who's been missing his shot. Dalton Connect came out and he shot the lights out in the second quarter.

Starting point is 00:06:04 And he was nailing three-pointers. And so for the Lakers, this is big that you depend so much on a rookie. But for a team that's not a very good three-point shooting team in the Lakers, it's important that guys like Austin Reeves and Dalton Connect, they make their threes. The Rui with open three, he makes his threes. The Lakers have had too many guys who aren't good three-point shooters firing the ball up from behind the arc throughout the year. And it hasn't helped them, whether it's,

Starting point is 00:06:29 and Anthony Davis, who's not a great three-point shooter or it's Cam Reddish, nothing against those guys, but that's not what they're in the game for. You know, those guys are supposed to be either defenders or those guys are supposed to be guys that get the ball in their hands and get it to the guys who can score. Anthony Davis, of course, is fine outside of the paint. Find it really outside 15 to 17 feet, but as far as a three-point specialist, he's not the guy you want shooting three is nonstop. He's just not that player.

Starting point is 00:06:54 Lakers tried it a few years ago, and he wasn't that player then. That's why it was important that Dalton. connect came out and he shot really well. So the Lakers did well in the second quarter. Again, they outscore the Hawks by 5, 3429 and they go into the half with a lead of 65-57. At one point, the Lakers had a 10-point lead in the second quarter at 65-55. They finished with an eight-point lead going into the half. And for the Lakers that look like this, the halftime numbers, so it was Anthony Davis first half double double. Again, Anthony Davis came out. Hey, I missed last night, guys. I'm here. I'm going to get double that for tonight.

Starting point is 00:07:30 17 points, 11 rebounds for Anthony Davis in the first half. LeBron James, 14 points, five assists in the first half. He also made six of eight shots. That's big. For LeBron to know that, hey, the shots are falling. I want to see LeBron continue to take the ball to the basket. But one thing with LeBron James, especially now later in his career, he's become a streaky shooter.

Starting point is 00:07:52 When he's on fire, we all know it. We all see, okay, tonight's LeBron's night from beyond the arc. He feels like he can shoot from anywhere and he can make it. Well, tonight was one of those nights where LeBron again shot well. Six of eight, no wasted shots, did what he's supposed to do. But this is the kind of team that LeBron likes to play with where he's involved. He's obviously, you know, proud of his game, not one of those where I guess tonight I'm just rebounding an assist and maybe end up with 18.

Starting point is 00:08:19 LeBron knew, hey, I can score at will. So in the first half with 14 points, five assists, LeBron's doing well. Dalton Connect, 11 points in just 10 minutes, made all three of his three-point attempts from behind the arc, and that was a big step for the Lakers right there. So really important to see what the Lakers were doing, and for Dalton Connect, to be part of it, is only going to help this team if they can rely on him. The problem is they haven't been able to rely on him consistently. It hurts them.

Starting point is 00:08:46 For the Hawks, Jalen Johnson, as I mentioned before, underrated player in this league, 14 points, three rebounds, Trey Young, nine points, dice and Daniels, nine. points, two rebounds. For the Lakers shooting-wise, Lakers made 51% of the shots from the field. The Hawks compared to 45%. Lakers shot, again, 5 of 13 from three-point range. It's a 39%. Not bad. J.J. Reddick will take that any day. So we as Laker fans. The hawks shot 45% from the field. Again, 416 from 3, 25%. That's not exactly what the Hawks want. Lakers at rebound of the Hawks, 2820. Those are positive numbers. things that also equal wins. Lakers turn the ball over, though, nine times Atlanta only four. The nine turnovers is extremely frustrating for the Lakers. When you look at the nine turnovers and you're going, okay, well, let's double that up. We've only played one half of basketball. It's way too many. Championship teams don't turn the ball over this much. It's one of those

Starting point is 00:09:43 things that the Lakers I know want to fix. Austin Reeves talks about it often. He knows that's the weak part of his game. He wants to be the so-called point guard on this team. And for Austin Reeves to turn the ball over. I know it's frustrating for him, but we want to see the ball in his hands too. If you recall back in 2020, LeBron James was the one who handled the ball the most. And even though the Lakers won a championship, it's a lot to ask for a 40-year-old person to be the guy that has to bring the ball up the court. So Austin Reeves wants that role. He said he had it in high school. He talks about it as far as, you know, I was a point guard at one time. My job was to get the ball to my brother when I was a freshman and he enjoyed it. And if anyone ever plays pickup

Starting point is 00:10:22 basketball. It's always fun being the point guard. LeBron James, we need to save his legs, save his energy for other aspects of the game. And so if Austin Reeves can take over those duties and come up with the assist like he's been doing, this is going to help this Laker team out for a long time. Lakers scored

Starting point is 00:10:38 seven points off the Hawks' turnovers. The Hawks only scored four. So it didn't hurt the Lakers, and that's rare. It's one of those where you're playing with fire. So the Hawks only scored four off of nine Laker turnovers. Good teams are going to kill the Lakers for that. Lakers can't have it happen.

Starting point is 00:10:54 Hoss scored 36 points in the paint compared to the Lakers only had 30. If you watch this game from the very beginning, it was the Lakers that dominated in the pain at the beginning. Hox completely took that over, though, in the second quarter. So at the half, when you're looking at what the Lakers had with the 65-57 lead,

Starting point is 00:11:11 the Lakers obviously more room to get a little bit better to improve on things and hopefully for them to come out and consistently put together good halfs on both sides and come out after a halftime speech or whatever is going on, whether the guys are using the restroom, getting something to drink, talking to trainers, that those

Starting point is 00:11:30 guys are able to come out and put together a good third quarter and start to put teams away. We'll talk about the second half in just a second, but first want to mention the people over at Fandul. The NFL players are almost here, but it's not too late to get on in the regular season action with Fandual, America's number one sports book, because right now new customers can finish the season strong with $250. and bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. Don't forget, Fandau, so many different ways to pick up that W.

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Starting point is 00:12:22 also has bets for you, which players will score a touchdown, how many points each team will score, and also who will score first, so much more. Don't forget Fandul. Just visit Fanduel.com to join today. That's Fandul.com. For your chance at $250 in bonus bets, make every moment more with Fandul, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. Again, taking your comments today as well, Lakers win. They finished this homestand three and one before they take off to Houston to play the Rockets and then they have the Mavericks on this brief two game road trip. But what your comments

Starting point is 00:12:56 as well? What do you think about this Laker team? Do you like what you're seeing? Are you happy with the moves that JJ Redick has made? We'll get into those guys in just a second as well. But let's finish talking about what we are in the games. We'll pick things up in the third quarter for the Lakers. Austin Reeves, 11 points in the quarter to give them 15 and six assists through three. That's big. Austin Reeves again came out after the halftime speech and ready to go. 11. points in the quarter. That's good. Austerese have been playing great basketball. We want to see that, you know, continue to go that way. Trey Young, he caught fire. And this is what we said. Trey Young always does. And the third quarter, Trey Young decided to turn it on. If you're like

Starting point is 00:13:36 me, you look at Trey Young and you always wanted him in a Laker uniform. I don't know if it's ever going to happen. I mean, we've all imagined great players wearing the Laker uniform. But Trey Young, to me, is a lesser version of what Steph Curry is. What Trey Young does in the Laker games that we see is that he comes off, you know, kind of passive, and then he jumps in and he has that big moment. For the game tonight, he turned it on in the second half. Steph Curry is not a guy that does that. Trey Young, if he wants to take that next step in his career, he needs to be the guy that dominates for four quarters and isn't afraid to sit there and start throwing him up every time he gets an opportunity. He wants to facilitate more. It seems like than score the points, but how many guys can

Starting point is 00:14:14 shoot like Trey Young? How many guys can shoot like Steph Curry? Take advantage of it. It's one of those things where he's going to be a great player's entire career, but that next step of being compared to the greatest shooters of all time. It's one of those things I think hurts him. But 14 points in the quarter gave him a total of 23 points and nine assists through three. He's awesome. We all know he's awesome and that's what we all always think about, man, why can the Lakers pull up a deal for Trey Young? The Hawks are never going anywhere. This is a guy that should be worn a Laker uniform. Everybody knows the story. Trey Young, LeBron James. Trey Young's known. LeBron since he's a little kid, it would be a perfect fit for the Lakers.

Starting point is 00:14:51 It doesn't look like it's ever going to happen, though. Hawks only had five turnovers as a team through three quarters. That's it, five. It's amazing they weren't winning this game, but they couldn't score off the Laker turnovers. The Lakers had 16 turnovers through three quarters. LeBron James, who had 23 points and eight assists through three, Anthony Davis, 19.16 to rebound to three.

Starting point is 00:15:13 Austin Reeves, again, with the turnovers, hurts, because remember the Hawks had five total. Austin Reeves had five by himself. Anthony Davis had four. And so for the Lakers, it got a little bit sloppy. In the fourth quarter for the Lakers, look, they took control of the game. They did what good teams were supposed to do. Lakers, again, go at it, and they stick it to the Hawks, and they play well.

Starting point is 00:15:37 And so for the Lakers, what they did, they finished it out in fashion, and big things happened in the quarter. Lakers outscore the Hawks 2316. Defense stepped up. The Hawks going to put a wrap. Valley together. Things didn't go the Hawks way. But there was a big moment in the game. There's a record setting moment in the game. And it's LeBron James who just turned 40 a week ago. LeBron James, again, with a great night, but LeBron James sets another NBA record. 563 times in his career, he has scored 30 or more points. That passes Michael Jordan.

Starting point is 00:16:10 Now, you can sit there and say, well, how many games do Jordan play compared to how many games LeBron played. It doesn't matter. The record is it's LeBron James. That's the way it goes. So what everyone wants to know in the future, hey, you know who has the most 30-point games in NBA history? It's LeBron James. We're in a Laker uniform. You're going to see his number retired with all the other Laker greats. And so LeBron James, good for him. LeBron James again, back-to-back nights where he's able to put the ball in the basket, had a hot hand. Lakers again, we'll have a night off tomorrow. And man, they'll get on an airplane and they'll go to Houston. then let's see if he can continue his great shooting on the road.

Starting point is 00:16:46 But for LeBron James, he finishes with 30 points on the night, eight assists, three rebounds. Anthony Davis, interesting night for Anthony Davis. This is all effort. I love effort games. Anthony Davis, who we've seen sometimes where the effort's not there and it becomes frustrating. We saw it before when they played Miami and we've seen it a few times in other games where great players aren't supposed to play like this. Anthony Davis, he finished with 18 points, not impressive.

Starting point is 00:17:12 Well, guess what? He had 19 rebounds, 19 rebounds, more rebounds than he had points. That's incredible. Anthony Davis did all this in 37 minutes. He had four turnovers, which was a little bit frustrating, but he cut the turnovers down. All those turnovers came earlier on basically stopped turning the ball over. The four turnovers, though, were a little bit frustrating. And so for Anthony Davis, also contributed four assists. Lakers, good ball movement tonight. If you're watching what the Lakers are doing, you look at the good teams in basketball, ball movement's insane. And for the Lakers to get the ball in the right hands of the right people and stop, you know, having the shot clock run out to zero and have guys like Cam Reddish,

Starting point is 00:17:52 fire them up just to beat the shot clock. Those days have to stop. And I think the Lakers are really more conscious on doing a better job of doing that. So next up, Austin Reeves, as we said, he's been playing very good basketball. Austin Reeves had good and bad night tonight. Austin Reeves with 20 points. And again, Austin Reeves had six assists. The turnovers, though, bother you because even though he had six assists, he also had six turnovers, seven rebounds for Austin Reeves. And to show the team guy, what we talk about all the time about Ruiz, now getting Ruiz stats in a second, I think you have to tip your hat to Max Christie. Max Christi had 28 just last night, but they didn't need Max Christie's offense. What they needed was Max Christi's defense into being

Starting point is 00:18:33 a guy that was a complete team player while he was on the floor. Max Christy only shot the ball four times tonight. Three or four from the field, one or two, three point shots, and finished with nine. But you know what? The Lakers get the win, and that's all that matters. And if you listen to Max Christy, it sounds like he's thinking team first. And that's what the Lakers need. They don't need Max Christie to be a superstar, a guy that thinks, hey, I'm an all star. Max Christi, I think, has found his role with his team and things are moving in the right direction. All the guys on the Lakers in the starting five in the plus category. That's big. The other starter on the Lakers is Rui. And Rui, as we said before,

Starting point is 00:19:08 four or six points in the first court. He finishes with 13 and 24 minutes, made six of nine shots, which means he didn't shoot, you know, an enormous amount, which is fine because you have other guys on the team, they're going to take more shots, but he's one of three from three point range, missed his only free throw. But for Rui, that's the kind of ball you want to see. 13 points, eight rebounds in 24 minutes, complete team player, and that's what we love about Rui. For the Lakers, you know, you'd like to see more production off of their bench. You have Dorian Finney Smith who just came over from the Nets. He still hasn't found his way.

Starting point is 00:19:43 It's only been a few days. It's only been three games. Let's see what he can finish with. But tonight in 23 minutes, he looked like he felt more of what we're supposed to see from Dorian Finney Smith. When we look at a player that is supposed to be a guy that's a very good two-way player, great defensive player and also a decent offensive player, a guy that plays with a little bit with the chip on his shoulder, something that I always think championship teams need.

Starting point is 00:20:07 And hopefully he's a good fit. Rob Polinka in this trade, and he was the key piece of this trade, finds his way and helps out a little bit more offensively. But he finished with eight points in 23 minutes, five rebounds. And not bad, no turnovers, not bad, no blocks, no steals, no assists. But five rebounds, eight points for him. He's finding his way, hopefully getting better. Cam Reddish's minutes were down tonight. Only 12 minutes for him.

Starting point is 00:20:31 Three points total. That was a three-pointer he had. Jackson Hayes, after starting last night, added three points in 10 minutes. The interesting thing for Jackson Hayes, only one rebound. You know, one rebound, no block shots. And for him, you expect to see a little bit more of that. And for Shake Milton, of course, also came over in the Nets trade. Two points, did not make a shot in 13 minutes.

Starting point is 00:20:54 He shot the ball three times, missed all three shots. Two of them were three-pointers. Missed those. He did make two free throws. And that kind of worked out four rebounds, four assists. So four assists in 13 minutes, Laker fans will take that. Lakers will take that along with the strong defense.

Starting point is 00:21:09 Dalton Connect finished with 13 overall in 14 minutes. Dalton Connect only had two after the first half. I'd like to see him get more minutes, more shots off. But four or seven from the field, three of those were three point shots for him, four rebounds. And Dalton Connect's a guy who in 14 minutes, I would love to see him become a guy that shoots the ball a lot more, a lot more frequent to see what Dalton Connect can do.

Starting point is 00:21:35 So overall for the Lakers, they're moving in the right direction and guys are finding the way and finding their spot on this team. And, you know, we'll see how things go from there. But we'll got to check everything out. We'll look at what the Hawks did. And also we'll look at what the Lakers stand as far as playoff picture goes and where they rank right now. But first, I want to mention the people over at game time, look, if you like going to live events like me, whether it's sports, music, theater, or comedy, one of my favorite memories, of course, is attending. concerts. And when you talk about being with your friends and you're creating great memories through life, a lot of times it's at concerts and the music that brings it together. Also,

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Starting point is 00:23:46 So again, Lakers, they win 119 102. For the Hawks, a little disappointed, I'm sure for them, because they have back-to-back road games, even though they stay in the same city. They'll face the Clippers tomorrow. But for the Hawks, they'll go face a Clipper team where Quai Lennard's finally coming back. okay and at the same time who stepped up for the hawks what was tray young trey young in 36 minutes 33 points did he wait too long to start shooting maybe he did but for the lakers benefit it worked out 33 points nine assists for tray young outstanding players we mentioned earlier in the show he's an all star he's a guy i'd love to see in los angeles just like all of you but here's the deal 33 points nine assists all for nothing this team only scores 102 points. Jalen Johnson finished with 19 points eight rebound. So the Lakers held Jalen Johnson below

Starting point is 00:24:35 his normal rebound numbers, but also held Trey Young below his normal assist numbers. So the defense is getting better for this team. For the Lakers, bench-wise, it was kind of similar to what the Hawks did, meaning total points. But overall, for the Lakers, we'd like to see the Lakers step up. There aren't too many people are predicting that the Hawks are going to be a playoff team, a team that meaning that they can make a run. There'll be a playoff team, but not the kind of team that's going to make a run at the Celtics or at the Cavs. Whereas the Lakers, who knows where the limit is for this team.

Starting point is 00:25:07 They have two of the best players of all time on their current roster. How far can the Lakers go? That's the big question. So for me, I like what I saw tonight. I like the fact that they finished three and one on this four-game homestand, heading on the road against the Rockets, a team that's in front of them in the standings. It will be a great test on Sunday.

Starting point is 00:25:26 But also don't forget, they're going to face a Mavericks team without Luca, which is as big as well. So Lakers win guys in the chat. Craig says Austin Reeves has to take better care of the ball, six turnovers. Craig couldn't agree more. You know, couldn't agree more. Craig also excited about, of course, LeBron James. And the team has improved defensively.

Starting point is 00:25:46 And the team has. And that's why, you saw Rob Polinka make these trades. It wasn't one of those shiny trades where, hey, I want to see what that guy looks like with that team's uniform. It wasn't one of those. but at the same time, it might have been a very good basketball trade, meaning that it is solid for what the Lakers are trying to do moving forward and chasing that championship, catching up with the Boston Celtics for most championships in NBA history.

Starting point is 00:26:09 So, Daniel, I see you're excited for the big win, and so am I. So am I. 119-102, big win, and I'll take every single one of them. I still don't know what the identity is. I'm kind of curious to know what you guys think as well. What is the identity of this team? Is this going to be a defensive team? Is this going to be a star-driven team?

Starting point is 00:26:28 Has J.J. Redick found his way as a coach? Still not exactly sure. I still questioned some of the usage of timeouts. When you can see when other teams go on a run, I wish he would go the old Pat Riley fashion of stopping those as quick as he can with a timeout. I understand you're trying to save timeouts, but Pat Riley was so good at it. You could feel it.

Starting point is 00:26:46 You could feel it whether you're at the game or if you were at home watching. When other teams started to gain momentum and go on their runs, Pat Riley was quick with the quick timeout. And for JJ Redick, he doesn't do it. Phil Jackson did it different. Where first half of the season, Phil Jackson let players just kind of play through it. My theory was Phil Jackson just didn't want to coach any of the All-Star games and the team with the best record. At the time was the coach that would coach the All-Star game and he wanted those days off.

Starting point is 00:27:13 So he coached completely different in the first half of the season than he did in the second half of the season. But for me, I wanted to see JJ Redick kind of figure that out a little bit. It's frustrating. When the guys look like they need a breather and guys are looking to the side, like, you're going to call it time out here. We kind of need one. And he doesn't do it. It becomes frustrating.

Starting point is 00:27:31 So let's see where the Lakers stand right now. But the playoffs began today. What I always say the magic number for the Lakers is, the Lakers need to be a top four seed to make a serious run in the playoffs. You're going to be surprised tonight. Oklahoma City Thunder. They're still number one. They've won 14 games in a row.

Starting point is 00:27:49 They are on fire. They're ridiculous. 29 and 5, Oklahoma City. is. Memphis Grizzlies. They're second seed. They're 23 and 12. 23 and 12. Very good record. Still six and a half games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder. Houston Rockets, who the Lakers will see on Sunday.

Starting point is 00:28:06 Rockets are the three seed. And guess who's number four? I've been saying it all year long. Let's get to number four. Lakers are number four. Lakers are 20 and 14. Nine games back of Oklahoma City, but only two games behind the Houston Rockets. Lakers can take another step moving up in the standings. Let's get higher. Let's get a little bit closer.

Starting point is 00:28:26 Let's get some home quarter advantage here once the postseason begins. Lakers have moved up to the four seed. A very good sign for this team. There's seven and three in their last 10 games. The Lakers are, Lakers again, are 20 and 14 on the season. Behind the Lakers, you have the Nuggets at 19 and 14. You have the Mavericks, who as we said, would fall without Luca. They have lost four straight games.

Starting point is 00:28:46 The Mavericks are the six seed and continue to fall. L.A. Clippers, let's go Hawks tomorrow night. Clippers host the Hawks. They're 19 and 15. They're a seventh seed. San Antonio Spurge is the 8th seed at 18 and 16. Warriors in the nice seed. And Minnesota is the 10th seed. Minnesota, so many people had a huge hopes for the Minnesota Timberwolves, but they're about a 500 team right now. And they've struggled. They've lost their last two games. They're 500 basketball team in their last 10 games. And again, on the outside looking in, and this is interesting to watch because there are

Starting point is 00:29:16 players in every one of these teams that you're saying, man, I wonder if that guy could be moved. Phoenix, not in the playoffs. Sacramento, not in the playoffs. Portland, not in the playoffs. Utah, not in the playoffs. New Orleans at 6 and 29. Pitiful, not in the playoffs. In the east, you have the calves.

Starting point is 00:29:32 They're 30 and 4, first in the east, and then they are rolling. Cabs have won nine straight games. Boston Celtics still at number two. They've won three straight games. And then really, I think most people say those are the two best teams, followed by the Knicks, Magic, bucks at five, heat at six. I don't know if you guys saw this, Jimmy Butler, who maybe a Laker fan said, man, I'd like to see Jimmy Butler in a

Starting point is 00:29:53 Laker uniform, a veteran, a guy that's getting up there in age, has been suspended by the heat for a week now. And what did he expect when Jimmy Butler basically says, I'm not happy here. I don't love basketball anymore. I got to find my love. Well, Jimmy Butler has created a whole mess for himself for Pat Riley for the Miami Heat. That's their problem. I'm glad Jimmy Butler's not a Laker.

Starting point is 00:30:15 I'll be honest with you. So again, Laker basketball continues on Sundays, a four o'clock tip off. So if you're watching the NFL on Sunday and you're saying, well, can I go from NFL to NBA? You can because the games basically start at 1 o'clock for both the Chargers and for the Rams. You flip on over after watching, let's say the Chargers Raiders game and you can catch Laker basketball. I will be with you, though, for the post game show. Again, locked on Lakers. It is exciting.

Starting point is 00:30:42 Brian and Andy do a great job daily. I'm here for the post game. Locked on Lakers post game. Don't forget locked on Los Angeles as well. These shows can be heard anywhere you get your podcast, but I thank everybody for joining me. Very excited about this win. Lakers win over the hawks. A reminder, 119-102.

Starting point is 00:31:00 I will see you on Sunday after hopefully another Laker win against the Rockets. Congratulations again, a LeBron James, 563 times now. He has scored 30 or more points in a game. Long live the King. Great job, LeBron. We'll see everybody on Sunday.

Starting point is 00:31:15 much.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - LAKERS POSTCAST Lakers beat the Hawks 119-102

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