Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - LAKERS POSTCAST Lakers bench lead team to win over Rockets

Episode Date: April 1, 2025

 Luka Doncic scored 20 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and dished out 9 assists, and Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent added 20 offensive rebounds from the bench as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the visiting Houston Rockets 104-98. The Lakers will look to continue their winning ways Thursday night when they welcome Steph Curry and the Warriors to town. Lakers, LA Lakers, Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Rui, Hachimura Austin Reaves, Dalton Knecht, NBA, Lakers Post cast, JJ Redick, Dave Palet, Lakers vs Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers vs Houston Rockets Support Us, By Supporting Our Sponsors! GAMETIMELooking for tickets to your next big event? Whether it's a concert, a comedy show, or a sports game, finding the right ticket at the right price can be a headache. But with Gametime Picks, it’s never been easier. Let me tell you how it works.With Gametime Picks, the app does all the hard work for you. It curates the best deals, so you don’t have to waste time searching through endless ticket listings.I’ve been using Gametime Picks for a while now, and here’s why I love it:The curated deals make it super simple to find great tickets at a great price—no more sifting through thousands of options.The seat view feature is a game-changer. Before I even hit “buy,” I can see exactly what my seat will look like in the venue. It’s so reassuring.And the best part? You’re covered with Gametime’s lowest price guarantee—if you find a better deal somewhere else, they’ll refund 110% of the difference. Plus, your tickets are guaranteed to be delivered on time, with easy cancellation options if something comes up.Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-B-A for $20 off. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You are a Locked-on Lakers podcast. Part of Locked-on Sports Los Angeles on the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Well, the Lakers and Rocket start off slow. Gabe Vincent and Dorian Finney Smith lead the charge, and the Lakers win against one of the better teams in the West. I'm Dave Pallet. Thank you so much for being with me tonight as we talk a little Laker basketball.

Lakers big win again, 104, 98 of the Houston Rockets. Bear with me with my voice, still trying to hold it. It's been about a week. And so many of you guys are great. We're going to get to your comments as well. The more comments, the better you guys, help me out a little bit. Give me a chance to rest of his voice.

So again, Lakers win 104.98. A busy night in L.A., right? I mean, when you look at all the sports that we have to sit there and celebrate and excitement, say this all the time. Lakers are the number one team in Los Angeles. And then the Dodgers, obviously, in case, spoiler alert, in case you tape the game. I'm watching both at the same time.

Dodgers pull off a win. Unnefeated, USC basketball, girls going against Yukon. There's so many things to watch tonight. But Laker basketball, they're the team that's the closest team right now to winning a championship, in my opinion. Whereas, let's say, as a Dodger fan, huge Dodger fan, got the Dodger sweatshirt going and everything at the same time. But look, the Lakers are a team that have a chance to win a championship in the next couple months. Dodgers have a chance to win a championship in October. It doesn't mean they both can't win.

It's going to be fantastic if they pull it off. remember all the way back in 1988, you had both the Lakers and you had the Dodgers win a championship at the same time, same year. It was great. 2020, we saw the same thing. Lakers Dodgers won a championship. Let's see it happen again right here in 2025. So so many different things going on with the game tonight. And as far as the Lakers, after the four-game road trip, coming back to crypto, facing a team in the Houston Rockets, a team that is actually ahead of them in the standings.

Set it all season long. If you've been with me since the beginning of the year, I told him I'm not a huge Rockets fan, just not kind of sold on the Rockets. And keep waiting for the Rockets to fall apart. There was a time during the season where the Rockets did start to fall apart. And then they rallied back and they had a big winning streak. I'm not so much worried about Houston. And a matter of fact, if the Lakers play them in the postseason,

I kind of like the matchup with the Lakers and the Rockets. I think a lot of people are concerned about what that matchup could be. As we look and we see, there's only a few weeks remaining in the regular season. So many people a couple weeks ago were saying they don't want to face the Warriors. I'll be honest with you. Unless it's OKC, I like the Lakers' chances against everybody. And I'm not saying I don't like the Lakers' chances against O'KC because we're going to see them a lot in the next week.

We're going to see O'KC on Sunday. We're going to see them again the following Tuesday. But at the same time, I think the Lakers are the veteran experience. I like what the Lakers have to show. So we'll start off in the first quarter. So if you're watching this game at the beginning and you're going, okay, Lakers back at home, they're going to look like themselves. So it's a disappointing loss in Chicago on that four-game trip.

they're able to pull off two wins in Indiana and in Memphis, but kind of disappointing on the way that game went, not just for the Lakers, but for the Rockets too, the Lakers kind of lucked out and it really started off as a boring game. Here's the deal. Lakers got off to a slow start. They took their first lead with six minutes remaining in the quarter,

and that score was 10 to 9. 10 to 9 is ridiculous when you talk about an NBA game. Rockets struggled as well, going at 1.5 minutes without scoring. Then the Lakers go through a scoring drought of their own by not scoring a basket for five minutes. Lakers were led in the quarter by Lucas six points. Doreen-Finney-Smith, he had six off the bench, which was a good sign for the Lakers to see how the bench play was going to go. And we're going to get into that as well.

But after one, Rockets led 1916. Again, the Lakers only scored 16 points in the first quarter. They shot 24 percent, 14 percent from three. You only made two of 14, also two of three free throws. Rockets weren't great either, by the way. 32%, 27% for three point range. And overall, it wasn't a great start for either team. And for the Lakers, to be honest, they're lucky to still be in it.

So second quarter, things looked a little bit better for the Lakers. For the Lakers, they outscore the Rockets. We always talk about this number all the time. You've got to get to at least 30 points per quarter. Lakers get to 32. Rockets only get to 29. They go to the half-tied 48-48. But second quarter, the best play of the game, or the most exciting play of the game,

we saw it a million times. It was Lucas behind the back pass. Remember, he was behind the arc, and it's behind the back pass. It gave Vincent the corner, and that ties the game at 41. And that's where things, I think, started going in the Lakers direction,

where if you're a fan and you're waiting for the Lakers to give you a sign that they can win this thing, that was pretty good right there. So Lakers getting tied up 41, a minute 39 remaining. Lucas three gave the Lakers a 44, 43 lead, and they go into the half tied 48. and at the time you're going, in my opinion, going, that's good enough. The Lakers played so bad in the first quarter that they need half time and a chance to come out

and kind of show their ground of what they are. This is a home game. This is a game the Lakers are supposed to win. They've met one time before earlier in the season. It was in Houston. Rockets won that matchup. It would be nice to see the Lakers tied 1-1 after playing a home game at Crypto. And again, they will face the Rockets later on in the season as well.

but, you know, at the half, you have the Rockets, Lakers tied up 48. Lakers are led at the half by Lucas 15. Gabe Vincent had nine. Dorian Finney Smith had nine. Both those guys coming off the bench. Again, a big sign for the Lakers. LeBron, by the way, only had five at the half. Oscar Reeves, four.

Rockets were led by Houston who had nine. Nothing that's spectacular by Houston. Lakers shot 35%. So got a little bit better halfway through the game. 31% from three-point range, eight of 26. I mean, six of eight free throws. What was interesting is the rocket shot 47%, 35% from three, but zero free throws, attempted. So they didn't miss any, but at the same time, they didn't attempt any.

That's very unusual for an NBA game. At the same time, when you go, well, how does that work out? Well, points in the paint, the rockets actually outscored the Lakers 30 to 16. You would think a team that scored 30 points in the paint somewhere there's a free throw in there, and there wasn't. Points off, turnovers, Lakers at eight, rockets at six. rebounds. Lakers were 24, Rockets, 26, right, assists, Lakers 8, Rockets 15, big difference right there.

Bench points. Again, Lakers, their bench came to life. And so there's a good sign for the Lakers right there. So overall, not too bad, but we're tied at the half. And moving forward for the Lakers, not a bad way to be being tied at the half, especially again, how bad they played in that first quarter. So feeling pretty good right there, as far as what the Lakers were doing and where they were, going moving forward that the right talk, a little bit of, I guess, you know, whether it's a coach, a player that says,

look, this is what we got to do. This is what they're doing against us. This is what we have to do. We're a veteran team. We're at home and let's pull it together here. So for the Lakers, absolutely fine with it. We'll go through your comments as well and also will go through the third and fourth quarter in just a second.

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What time is it? It is game time. All right. So, again, the Lakers that come out in the third quarter, Lakers actually play well in the third quarter. They get another more than 30 points in the quarter, 34-29. The Lakers outscore at Houston, not bad. $6.50 remaining in the third quarter, Lakers take a 66-65 lead.

on a Dorian Finney Smith three. Now, what was exciting about this quarter for the Lakers was the Lakers kind of established where they needed to be. And so what was the rest of the game going to be with with this Lakers? This is for me the part of the game that I felt comfortable that things were going to go to the Lakers. Time to reveal where the game was won or lost. It's the turning point. All right, turning point for me was 3.02 remaining in the third quarter. gave Vincent's corner three, gave the Lakers their biggest lead of the night at that time.

72, 67, okay? 12 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Ruiz three gave the Lakers a seven-point lead. And Dwayne and Finney Smith at the end of three had 18 points. Luke had 17, gave Vincent at 15. LeBrona at 10, Austin Reeves, had eight. So it wasn't your typical three guys that everyone was talking about since Memphis. Instead, you got great play from Dorian Finney Smith and gave Vincent off the bench. 33 points combined from the two of them.

Fourth quarter, Lakers go up 9693 with three minutes remaining. And again, the Lakers, the reason that was so close was because the Lakers hadn't made a shot for almost five minutes. Very frustrating because we've seen this happen before. 224 remaining in the game. Lakers 98, 95, 205 remaining in the game. Ruiz dunk made the score 195 after off of a LeBron James pass. Amman Thompson's layup made it 190.

and there's a minute 12 remaining. I wasn't panicking like I have in the past. Kind of curious to know if you were panicking as well. What made you nervous? But this is where things went the right way for the Lakers and the wrong way for a second. 23 seconds remaining in the game. LeBron loses the ball to Dillen Brooks.

It's like anybody but Dillen Brooks, right? Maybe the most hated Laker opponent ever. Dylan Brooks, again, takes the ball and he's going on the court. Now there's a smart foul by Austin Reeves. He sends Brooks to the line where he only made one of two. and that made the score 198 in favor of the Lakers. 13.2 seconds remaining Lakers call a timeout when Dwayne Fannie Smith got tied up.

11 seconds remaining, LeBron James gets fouled. He goes to the line. He makes both free throws, and the Lakers go up 102, 98, and then three seconds remaining, Dore and Fennie Smith, he grabs a rebound, foul after a missed Rockets three-pointer, and that was basically it. Finney Smith makes both shots.

Lakers win 104-98 final score. and that was big for the Lakers, big for us as fans and excited. Now, this is my question for you right here. This is what you'll be talking about. Talking about. Lakers bench. Okay, so the Lakers bench, we saw great production tonight from Dorian Fennie Smith and Gabe Vincent. And so when you look at this Lakers bench, do you like the way that J.J. Redick has this bench set up as this team goes towards the playoffs, meaning that Doreen Fennie Smith,

Jared Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent, Jordan Goodwin, those are his main guys. For me, obviously one of my favorites, and I've talked about them all season long because I was waiting for him to get hot after basically falling apart for three months. I didn't think it was going to come back, but it has come back. It kind of bothers me that Dalton Connect isn't part of this rotation and getting more minutes, meaning that if this team, meaning the Lakers, are behind in the playoffs or the NBA finals, and you need to get points in a hurry, you need to spread the floor and get those three pointers.

We saw the Boston Celtics, so they won the championships last summer. Everybody on that team is rifling up threes. Dalton Connect's one of your best shooters on the team, and I know he's streaky, but let's see if he's streaky good. For Dalton Connect, not to get an opportunity. Again, tonight, four minutes, no shots attempted, which means no three is attempted, no free throws attempted, no nothing. It was like he wasn't even in the game.

So four minutes, and there's zero stat line for Dalton Connect. Now you could say he's a rookie and he hasn't earned that spot. Look, he's an old rookie. He's a guy that's been a lot. of time in college, getting a lot of minutes. And at the same time, for me, I would love to see more Dalton Connect. And so that's kind of where I'm at right there. So again, it's one of those where the bench was big tonight. Dorian Finnis-Smiths, you can make the argument was his best game in the year in a Laker uniform. And at the same time, Gabe Vincent was clutch when the Lakers needed

him. And he has been as well. But when he have Gabe Vincent, who can hit those threes, added in there with Luca and Austin Reeves, guys that you trust to shoot threes, I would love to see Dalton connect part of the deal. Let's get to some of the questions in your chat right here, BC, said, go Dodgers. BC, man, I love the Dodgers as much as I love those Lakers. So I'm always watching.

Never miss a Dodger game, never miss a Laker game. BC also says, go Lakers. Craig, Vincent, and Dwayne Finney-Smith, great games. Absolutely great games. You can make an argument. Those guys were the reason the Lakers won tonight. defensive effort was much better than what we've seen, right?

The Lakers defensive effort has been basically a cause for concern since LeBron came back from the groin injury. LeBron's key block towards the end of the game, absolutely. I saw the score. I like you guys give me the score, the 6-0, 6-1. I'm a huge Tanner Scott fan, by the way. He will figure it out, okay? Tanner Scott will figure it out. Nobody panicked right there.

Good to see everyone at all. Daniel and happy Monday everybody absolutely everybody but my voice right now because my voice has been a wreck for about a week waiting for it to finally come back uh Craig says Lakers need to work on inbound in the ball absolutely right what the hell's going on Greg that is crazy that the Lakers cannot set screens and get the ball in bounds I have no idea what I was watching there but when I watch high school teams and college teams do it too much standing around as a guy who has never coached basketball I sworety I could watch in and create an inbound play that will work immediately.

It's not that hard. It's not that hard. Anyone who's ever played basketball, I don't care if you're eight years old or 18 or 38 years old, you know an inbound play. Everybody has an inbound play. Kind of crazy to me. So I don't know.

Craig says Dalton connects in the doghouse. If there's something there, I haven't heard it yet. That would be surprising to me. If anything, this organization and this team kind of owes Dalton one for trading them away. And then bringing them back and inspecting the best effort that you're going to get from him.

So I have no idea what's going on with Dalton Connect. If that's it, if he's in the dockhouse, if you know something, I don't know, you got to message me and let me know what's going on because I think it's very, very strange as far as what's happening there with Dalton Connect. And for me, I want to see more of them. I'm a fan.

I was a fan because I told you guys at the beginning, I'm an SEC basketball fan. And even though I'm not a University of Tennessee fan, I was like watching those guys from the SEC and how they end up. Hey, real quick, I'm going to mention game time one more time, and then we come back, I will give you the locked on player of the game. You tell me if you agree with my pick.

But again, I want to mention the people over at game time. Make sure you try the game time app. There's nothing like it. There's nothing like watching basketball live, the energy of the crowd, the sound of the sneakers on the hardwood, maybe even a celebrity sotting like you get at Laker games. If you want to catch a game in person, game time makes getting tickets that much more fun. and it is easier than ever. Game time's new feature, game time picks, filters out the fluff and shows you only the best deals and great seats so you don't have to waste any more time.

Easy ticket shopping. Again, if you check your GameTime app, there's always a chance to get deals, super deals with game time picks, even highlights super deals, giving the best bang for your buck, peace of mind with the seat views you buy with no surprise fees at the lowest price guarantee, and you can book with total confidence, take the guesswork at a buying tickets with game time picks, download the GameTime app, create an account, use the code locked on MBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms do apply. Again, create an account, redeem the code, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-N-B-A for $20 off. Download game time today.

What time is it? It's game time. All right, so here's the deal. So many guys to choose from tonight. You know, which direction do you go on and saying who was the player of the game? who was the most important person for the Lakers tonight. It is a tough one to choose from. We'll look at it right now.

This is the locked on player of the game. Locked on player of the game. So you look at the Lakers right there and you go, here's that starting lineup was Rui, it was LeBron, it was Jackson Hayes, it was Luca, it was Austin Reeves. So many guys who have done great things. For the Lakers, they had three guys

scoring double digits in the starting lineup. You had Luca with 20. You had LeBron with 16. You had Austin Reeves with 12. Luke even has. 20 points, nine assists. He had six rebounds as well. LeBron with the 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists. But I'll tell you what, I'm going to give it to, it's a tough one tonight. I'm going to give it to, uh, to Dorian Fannie Smith. I think honestly had the best game in his

career as a Laker tonight. In 32 minutes tonight, he had 20 points. He made six of 11 three pointers. It's a tough one to choose from. He also had six rebounds. And it was one of those we critical of about a week ago about him getting more rebounds if he's in the game. Dorian Finney Smith is my player of the game. And again, it could have gone with Gabe Vincent, could have gone with Luca. But Dorian Finney Smith, for me, again, player of the game for the locked on player of the game. So again, we will be back on Thursday.

Lakers welcome Steph Curry and they welcome the Warriors to town. The good chance you're going to see the Lakers play the Warriors in the postseason, maybe even in the first round. And then we got some big games coming up. We got the Pelicans on Friday. Then we go to OKC for a Sunday afternoon game. Then you got to stay in OKC for two days and you play them again. What a bad trip, right?

If you're one of these guys that's a million dollar basketball player, in LeBron's case, a billion dollar basketball player, and you've got to spend two to three days in Oklahoma City. What a dump. That stinks. But anyway, that's it. Let's apply out some wins and feel a lot better than feeling bad for those guys. But we will be back on Thursday.

And again, appreciate you joining me. you can get this show and every other podcast anywhere you get your podcast. You're locked on sports as we're just talking a little bit of Dodgers. You get that anywhere you want. Also, don't forget about Brian and Andy. They talk Lakers all the time. Stay with me again for Thursday. Let's ride this thing out for the rest of the year as the Lakers make a run for an NBA championship.

Let's hope my voice is a little bit better. Gally, it'll be about 10 days by the time I talk to you next. Let's hope it battles back. But again, appreciate the time, everybody that wrote in the comments. And I'll see you Thursday. Again, final score tonight, Lakers 104, Houston Rockets 98. Take care, everybody.