Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - LAKERS POSTCAST Luka and Austin Put on A Show as Lakers Defeat Spurs

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

Luka Doncic had 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 14 assists, and Austin Reaves added 30 points as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the visiting San Antonio Spurs 125-109. San Antonio was led in the loss by Stephon Castle’s 23 and Devin Vassell’s 17. The Lakers will look to run their winning streak to three on Wednesday night when they host the Milwaukee Bucks. The Lakers will look to run their winning streak to three on Wednesday night when they host the Milwaukee Bucks.Lakers, LA Lakers, Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Rui, Hachimura Austin Reeves, Dalton Knecht, NBA, Lakers Post cast, JJ Redick, Dave Palet, Lakers vs Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs Support Us, By Supporting Our Sponsors!DOOR DASHNBA fans, get ready— They Swoosh, You Save: Thanks to DashPass, every time a player drops 50 or more points in a game, you score a huge deal the next day.TRANSITION:It’s simple: When any player scores 50 or more in a game during the 24/25 NBA regular season, DashPass members get 50% off an order—up to $10 off—the next day from noon to midnight.Here are a few ways you can take advantage of this deal:· Game-Day Feast: After an epic 50-point performance, celebrate by ordering wings, pizza, or burgers from your favorite spot—delivered straight to your door.· Late-Night Cravings: Whether you're staying up watching highlights or just need a midnight snack, use DashPass to grab something delicious while saving big.· Lunch on the Go: Need a quick and easy lunch the next day? With DashPass, you get your favorite meals with $0 delivery fees and reduced service fees—plus, now you save even more with this exclusive NBA offer!· Fueling Your Watch Party: Planning to catch the next game? Order your go-to snacks and meals at a discount and get ready for more high-scoring action.Sign up for DashPass and be ready to save. When any player scores 50 or more in a game, DashPass members get 50% off an order the next day—up to $10 off. Just use promo code NBA50 from noon to midnight after a 50-point game on eligible orders at participating merchants. Must have an active DashPass account. Terms apply. Visit DoorDash to learn more! FAN DUEL Right now, new FanDuel customers can get TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins! Just visit FANDUEL DOT COM to join today. That’s FANDUEL DOT COM for your shot at TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets.Make every moment more with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA.MONARCH MONEY Ever check your bank account and wonder, Where did all my money go? Between dining out, online shopping, and entertainment, it’s easy to lose track. That’s where Monarch Money comes in—your personal CFO, giving you full visibility and control over your finances.Monarch Money isn’t just a budgeting app—it’s a complete financial command center. You can track all your accounts, investments, and spending in one place, so you stop just managing your money and start building wealth.Surprising Insights: When I started using Monarch, I realized just how much I was spending on food delivery—now, I budget smarter and save more.All-in-One Convenience: Instead of juggling multiple apps, you can use Monarch to check your finances, track spending, and even plan long-term goals.Easy Collaboration: Managing money with your partner is smoother than ever—you can track shared and personal accounts, set goals, and stay on the same page without the stress.CTA OFFER: Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. That’s monarchmoney.com, code LOCKEDONNBA, for half off your first year! 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 Postcast. Part of Locked-on Sports Los Angeles on the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. What a night for the Los Angeles Lakers. No LeBron again. Luca almost gets a triple double. And Austin Reeves is the most underrated player in the NBA. We talk about it all on the Lockdown Lakers Postcast.

I'm Dave Pallet. Thank you so much for joining me tonight and joining me after every single Laker game as the Lakers make a run for their 18th. NBA title. Lakers went tonight, 125, 109 in a very exciting game. And again, the Lakers taking care of business. So they now have a two-game winning streak. Again, they'll welcome the Bucks of town tomorrow. Let's see if they can extend it. Again, no LeBron. He is not expected back tomorrow as well. Hopefully it will be back soon, but the Lakers are learning to play without one of the biggest stars in the NBA. Tonight's starting lineup in case you join the game

late. It was Jackson Hayes, Dorian, Finney Smith, Austin Reeves, Jordan Goodwin, and Luca, and I guess you're going to see that lineup for a while. This is the lineup we're going to see while LeBron James is out because right now it seems to work. It worked on Sunday, and it worked again tonight against the San Antonio Spurs. So let's look at the action right from the beginning and see where the Lakers took control of this game. First quarter, Lakers had a great first quarter.

We always talk about how the Lakers need to score basically 30 points a quarter. That's the goal. 30 points or more, and you should always be okay. Well, the Spurs jumped out to a 9-2 lead, and then Jordan Goodwin and Luca and Reeves, they hit back to back-to-back-back-three-pointers, making the score 11 to 9 Lakers, and they kind of never looked back. The Lakers extended their scoring run at 12, who the Spurs drain to three of their own. But the Lakers were playing very good basketball, and again, in the first quarter, it was Luca, who was doing the damage. Luca at 12, Austin Reeves, Dalt-Connect, were doing great as well. They both had five, Dalton, again, five off the bench.

Spurs led by former L.A. Clipper, Chris Paul, he had seven, and you're feeling like things are going to be okay, but this is the NBA. So we know in the NBA, no lead is safe, and we see it all the time. Lakers shooting got off to a great start again, 50% from the field, 44% for three-point range, making four of nine. And it was extremely exciting at that point thinking, thinkers are going to go the Lakers away. Rebounds, Lakers are at rebound in the Spurs, doing what they're supposed to do,

assist both teams at five. Lakers bench points, Lakers winning in that. seven to five and turnovers. Turnovers were low for the Lakers and I hate to say it. It's one of those things that's a weak spot for LeBron James as LeBron James usually leads to the team in turnovers. Usually it's a silly pass. Lakers only had two though in the first quarter, which is great. Second quarter, we move on and the Lakers win that quarter to. Lakers win that quarter to 3329. So again, two quarters in a row with the score more than 30 points. That's great. 609 remaining in the first half. Lakers take a 50 to 38 lead.

and Dorian Finney Smith's second three-pointer of the game. 4-1 remaining in the first half. Lakers take a 14-point lead on a Jackson's dunk. 244 remaining. Lakers take a 16-point lead on a Gabe Vincent three-pointer. And the biggest lead was 17. It was on Lucas, one free throw that he made at a two. But things are looking really good for the Lakers,

and we like the way things are going. At the half, Lakers lead 65-51, and it's just a matter of what the Lakers will look like in the second half. Lakers were led by Lucas 16.16.6 rebounds, five assists. Austin Reeves, he had 11, Daltan Connect. He had 10 off the bench. He kind of liked the balance that was going on with the Lakers. Again, these guys have to learn to play with each other because once LeBron comes in,

it's going to be another person that demands the ball, and you have to make sure that the key parts around those guys are going to be okay. And we talk about those guys. We'll talk about the key guys because everyone always talks about Luke and LeBron, who are the main guys that can lead the Lakers to a big playoff. win or a guy that you can rely on. So here's the deal. Spurs led by 15, David Bissell's 15 points and the Lakers shot 53% of the first half, 41% for three point range, 9 to 22, feeling pretty good. 14 of 18 from the free throw line. Spurs shot 45% from the field, 47% from three point range and they only

missed one free throw, six to seven. Rebounds, Spurs have the Lakers 2120, assist. Lakers doing what they're supposed to do. They lead that category 16, 13, bench points. Lakers lead that one to 19 to 12. And turnovers, Lakers again, only had two. So they had no, none in the second quarter and be basically held to just two turnovers in the first half that's outstanding. It's points, point scored off turnovers. Lakers had 13 spurs had three. Lakers are playing great basketball against the team they're supposed to beat. And you can sit there and say, well, it's the spurs and it doesn't matter. Look, every game matters. We just saw the Lakers who went on a road trip that was a disaster. They lost every single game on this road trip.

So here they are playing six games in eight days. And the Lakers are, you know, basically have their backs against the wall because you need to make sure this team is set with the way the postseason is going to break down. So there are so many different things the Lakers have to worry about and what's going to happen with this team as they move forward throughout the playoffs. but for the Lakers, there's a lot going on. And for this Laker team, they need to make sure that they are basically jelling. And that's what we want to see all the way through. A lot to look at. I'll get your comments as well.

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get in on the college hoops action all tournament long. Okay. So the Lakers, again, outstanding game for this Laker team, and there's so many things to be excited about. So the Lakers, again, at the half, Lakers playing great basketball, and the Lakers are leading 6551. We all know that number at the half. Look, the Lakers after tonight's game are 38 and 5 were leading after the half.

So for the Lakers, what is it that makes this team work, and what are we concerned about, even when this team is leading, because we see many times that the Lakers lead at the half, and we see the Lakers lead many times during games where the Lakers aren't exactly able to close them out. And you see teams that can't close out the other team, where you see it a lot. So what is the turning point of the game?

Time to reveal where the game was won or lost. It's the turning point. Turning point in the game for me tonight, guys, is the third quarter. Lakers look with 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter, Dorian Finney Smith three-pointed to give the Lakers an 18-point lead. It's the largest of the night. And at that point, I felt secure. This game is going to be a victory for the Lakers.

I'm going to watch the second half because I want to see how it plays out. I love watching our Lakers. But again, I think Dory and Fannie Smith's three-pointer to give the Lakers the 18-point lead. That was the largest of the night. 645 remaining in the third quarter. Lakers extend that lead to 19. Five minutes remaining Lakers take a 21 point lead, 8362. And with

230 remaining and the Lakers, again, they extend their lead to 28. On Jordan Goodwin's three-pointer, Austin Reeves, he led the Lakers with 12 points. Austin Reeves was absolutely outstanding tonight. And Austin Reeves has been

outstanding for the majority of the year. Arguably, you could say Austin Reeves is the most underrated player in the NBA. This is something to talk about tonight. This is what you'll will be talking about. Okay, so I'm a huge Austin Reeves fan. I've been just like every one of you, Laker fans out there who everyone's talking about LeBron James and Luca, but nationwide are people

talking about Austin Reeves? And the answer is probably no. You know, a lot of people probably get confused with Alex Caruso and Austin Reeves, and we all know why. But let's be honest here, when Alex Caruso was gone and the Lakers get Austin Reeves to basically take over that role, Austin Reeves has been outstanding for the Lakers and has been outstanding. from day one. It gets better every single game. And Austin Reeves maybe he's not the defender that Alex Caruso was, but he's a better offensive player than he was. Austin Reeves is a guy that's going to be tremendous for this team when they need him most because his health is back. Well, LeBron James comes back and he gets his win and his health is back. And Luca, who said he's not

100% of what you're going to see the best of Luca, you put those three guys together with what they have, with guys around that can knock down the threes and guys who are playing great defense, whether it's Vanderbilt, whether it's Dorian Finney Smith, whether it's Gabe Vincent hit in threes, whether it's all to connect hitting threes. This Laker team is extremely dangerous and there's not a team in the league that feels comfortable playing the L.A. Lakers right now. Things are going well for this team and a lot of it has to do with Austin Reeves. When Luca all of a sudden could not shoot the ball well tonight, it was Austin Reeves who did shoot the ball well. It was Austin Reeves who knocked down the clutch shots. It was Austin Reeves that took the ball to the hoop.

It was Austin Reeves that the Lakers are able to depend on. That's the reason why he was the high point player of the game. Austin Reeves was tremendous in this Laker win. And again, another great stat for the Lakers. The Lakers are now 38 and 2 when leading after the third quarter. Fourth quarter and you go, okay, basically, are we going to cakewalk this thing out? Well, Luke ended up with the triple double. He only needed one rebound for the longest time.

Well, the spurs going from the end of the third quarter, into the fourth quarter, on a 15-0 run. So the Lakers once had a 28-point lead, they cut that lead down to 13. 627 remaining in the fourth quarter. This is why you always watch the end of a game, even when your team is about to win. Things got ugly. And it was Jared Vanderbilt.

Again, he pushed Jeremy Sohan, and both players were rejected. Now, when I'm watching it, I really don't care that there's a brush up or guys have bad feelings. What I care about is the spurs have nothing to play for. The Lakers do have something to play for. Jared Vanderbilt's one of our best defenders.

Lakers have a big week coming up. Lakers have Milwaukee on Tuesday night. So with the Lakers taking on Milwaukee and Jared Vanderbilt all of a sudden in a shoving match and getting ejected from the game on a technical fighting foul, you wonder, does the NBA step in and not only will you be suspended for the rest of tonight's game, but he's suspended for another game coming up. And that's one of the things the Lakers can't afford to lose their temper. The guy like Jared Vanderbilt's too valuable to this Laker team for something like that to happen.

Again, the Spurs had nothing to lose. Lakers have a lot to lose. So we're going to see what the NBA office says about this incident over the next day or so. 345 remaining in the game. Spurs cut the Lakers lead down to 113102. Lakers quickly going to 7-0 stretch, and they go back up to 18 and everything felt pretty good right there. Okay, so we're looking good. Lakers are looking good and we're feeling good about what the Lakers are doing. Again, for this Laker team, they're playing good basketball over the last couple days. We'll get a real test tomorrow night when they take on the Milwaukee Bucks. But there's a lot going on with this Laker team and trying to get an idea of what their identity is,

especially without LeBron James. When we come back, we're going to not only get to your comments, but also we're going to get to the player of the game. Who is the locked-on player of the game? Curious to know what you guys think. I'll tell you what I think right after I talk about Monarch Money. Ever check your bank account and wonder, where did all my money go? Between dining out, online shopping, and entertainment, it's easy to lose track. That's where Monarch Marnie comes in with your personal CFO, giving you full visibility and control over your finances.

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So looking at this Laker team, again, very exciting box score. to look at because there are guys from all over that contributed tonight's victory, and that's what we love. We loved balanced basketball, and that's what J.J. Reddick loves. And so what did you see with this team and what was the, who was the star of the game? We'll tell you who's the locked on player of the game. This is the locked on player of the game. Lockdown player of the game. It looked like for the longest time it was going to be Luke and Luke had a great night, one rebound away from a triple double in 34 minutes. Luca had 21 points.

He had nine rebounds. He had 14 assists. His shot struggled a little bit, though. He's only 5 or 20 from the field, 1 at 7 from 3 point range. And that's why he isn't, to me, the player of the game. Today, the player of the game is the guy I just bragged about, and that's Austin Reeves.

Austin Reeves had 30 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 12 at 21 from the field, 5 or 13 from 3 point range, made, he was 101 on his free throws. And Austin Reeves has been great for this team. and now that he's healed with the calf injury, he's getting better every single game. So Lakers, again, they had double digits tonight from Dorian Finney Smith.

They had double digits from Luca, double digits from Austin Reeves, double digits from Jordan Goodwin, double digits off the bench from Gabe Vincent 11 and DALTA Connect double digits. He had 13 and 20 minutes. So this Laker team played very, very well and very, very balanced tonight. So it was a great night, again, 125, 109 to get that win. And so for Laker fans, we're excited about the way things are going as well as they head into another big game against Milwaukee tomorrow night. Let's get to some of your comments today as well. Craig, always good to see you. Thanks, Craig. Appreciate it.

Reeves moves and dribbling as improved, leaps and bounds. Craig, I can agree with you more. He is extremely aggressive, offensively and defensively. Austin Reeves gives you everything he has. When's the last time we saw Austin Reeves play and say, man, he wasn't into it tonight? It doesn't happen. BC, good to see you. Go Lakers. Absolutely agree. LeBron plus Luca equals champs, B.C. says, man, I'm with you on this. Again, I don't think there's a team in the NBA that feels comfortable facing the L.A. Lakers. And I don't think people want to see those matchups when they go, well, when did the Lakers come through and what happens?

I wonder if you start seeing teams all of a sudden get some strange losses, just so they don't have to line up with the Lakers. It's been a lot of talk over the last week about the Lakers having the three seed and the Warriors having the six seed. And no one wants to see those two teams match up so early. look, I don't want to match up with the Warriors either. I don't want to match up with the Nuggets in a while either. At the same time, I like what the Lakers are doing. I think they're the most exciting team by far in the NBA for people to watch. And the common is to the Lakers be on more national games.

Look, as long as we see them, I don't care. I really don't care. The Lakers will be on a bunch of national games once the playoffs begin. Craig says Reeves player of the game. You and I are on the same page right there, and they're very exciting. I'll tell you what, I'm also excited. is that I'm a huge Dodger fan. Three in the morning, I'm going to be watching that Dodger game,

and then I'm going to wait around until nighttime for that Lakerie Bucks game. It's going to be a great sports day for Los Angeles and to watch two of our favorite teams go at it. But baseball's back tomorrow, and I know it's a basketball show, but, man, I'm as excited as can be to watch the Dodgers in Japan and hope that Mookie gets better very, very soon. But it's always a good time. Again, this show is available anywhere you get your podcast.

You can follow Brian and Andy every single, day. They're doing Laker Talk with you. I'm here, of course, just for the postcast. But again, locked on Los Angeles, locked on Lakers, locked on Lakers post game. We have everything you need when it comes to your L.A. sports and very excited to be part of what's going on. But Dodger Talk starts tomorrow. Laker Talk continues tomorrow. And it's a good time to be a Los Angeles sports fan. Lakers win tonight again, 125, 109. I will be back with you in 24 hours. Appreciate everyone who joined me tonight. But again, Lakers win. And that's what's most important. make it three in a row tomorrow when they take on the Milwaukee Bucks.

Have a great night, everybody.