Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Luka Dončić (31/5/9) Dominates, but Lakers Lose Preseason Finale to Kings, 117-116

Episode Date: October 18, 2025

Luka Dončić looks ready for the season to start, dropping 31 points, five rebounds and nine assists on the visiting Sacramento Kings on Friday in the final game of the preseason for the Lakers, but it wasn't enough to get a win. LA loses to the Kings, 117-116.The "dress rehearsal" was interesting on a few levels, starting with... the starting lineup. Gabe Vincent was a surprise choice for the final slot, and to his credit he came out hot (as he's been throughout the preseason). Is he going to be the starter when the real games start on Tuesday, or would the Lakers turn to Jarred Vanderbilt or Marcus Smart?Overall, it was a mixed bag for the Lakers, who got some good work from Deandre Ayton, but Austin Reaves had his first bad game of the exhibition season. Rui Hachimura scored 18 points, but only had one rebound. Smart was a major highlight, particularly of the second half, as he made his presence felt defensively but also got far more aggressive on the offensive end, too, playing a great deal with the ball in his hands.For fans who are worried about him, Friday's game was likely a welcome development.Overall, it was not a good exhibition season for LA. They had players dinged up, didn't win a lot of games, struggled defensively, and seemed to miss out on chances to build up a little more continuity. But now it's a couple days of practice before the real slate starts Tuesday.  HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky  Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBAfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply. WayfairGet organized, refreshed, and back to routine for way less. Head to https://Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. PelotonLet yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at https://monarchmoney.com/lockedonnba for 50% off your first yearFanDuelRight now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the FanDuel app now by visiting https://FanDuel.comto get startedFANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everyone, welcome to a special bonus episode of Locked on Lakers for a Saturday, Andy, Brian Keminetsky, Andy Komenetsky. Lakers lose 117, 116 in their final preseason game. What should we look for as the season starts Tuesday? That's next. You are Locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks to everybody for making Lockdown Lakers. first listen to every day, Monday through Friday and sometimes on Saturdays, no matter how or where you get your podcast.

This one's always going to be free for you. And you can get that on iTunes, on Spotify, wherever you get your podcast. And of course, many 36,000 plus subscribing to Lockdown Lakers on YouTube where you can leave us questions, leave us comments, talk amongst yourselves if you choose. And you can talk about the game Friday night. The Lakers finished the preseason schedule, Andy. as they started it by losing. It is a one-win preseason, one in five. So in that regard, not great.

But fortunately, none of those games count. And there were certain things out of Friday's 117, 116 loss to the Kings that were good. They were certain things that would probably make Lakers fans a little bit nervous. And then some interesting developments in terms of who started the game in that open spot. with LeBron's injury. So where would you like to begin? And, you know, there's good performances, bad performances, strange performances. I would say beginning first and foremost with what ultimately matters most.

And that was Luca Dantzsche's performance, which was terrific. 31 points in 32 minutes, 8 of 16 from the field, 6 of 11 from behind the arc, got to the line 12 times, made nine of them, nine assists against just three turnovers. The Lakers actually did a very good job in this. game taking care of the ball after a wretched start. They were really loose. They had seven turnovers in the first half. A lot of them front loaded in that first half, finished the game with only nine. So they did a much better job as that went along. And particularly in this period without LeBron, but just overall for the season, nobody raises the ceiling and the floor for this

team more than Luca. And he's only played in two preseason games. But in the these two preseason games, he's looked really, really good. Yeah, I, there just wasn't much to dislike or be concerned about in the slightest with how Luca performed really throughout, you know, the games, like you say, he played in the preseason. And I think if there's anything you could, you could question or look at or wonder about or anything, it would just be maybe some unnecessary risk taking. There were some times he, he clearly tried to force the ball in to D'Andre Aitin for Allie Upps. So there were about three or four plays where the Lakers as a team were clearly trying to make

Ali Ups work. JJ said after the game that, quote, we got to figure out our lobs, said that the key to it was better concentration, better control. And to your point, also he said something the effect of there were a few attempts at some Harlem Globe Trotter plays when the simple one was right in front of them. sometimes you just got to be the generals and do the boring thing.

Well, be the generals, but actually score. Right. The generals back in the olden days. The Globetrotters used to play like real teams and stuff. So, you know, if you take some of those plays out, which probably don't happen in real games, some of these are it's the preseason. Let's try fun things kind of plays. It's the sixth game of the preseason.

Let's try fun things. Luca looked really good. I thought, you know, it was a bad game for Austin Reeves, but, you know, he has had a really good preseason overall, so no concerns there. I actually thought that while, you know, the chemistry is not quite there yet, overall, I really still like what I'm seeing from DeAndre Aiton. And Jackson Hayes played great before leaving the game with a wrist injury. and so like assuming he's fine. Lakers center rotation seems like a potential strong suit this year. JJ said that the x-rays came back negative for what was described as a right risk contusion,

said that they would learn more or let us know more on Sunday, which I took to mean no practice on Saturday. They're going to practice again on Sunday. But he didn't sound particularly concerned, but obviously you don't know until you take a look. at everything, but Jackson had a very good first half, continuing what has been a really good preseason for Jackson. It was also a much better game for Marcus Smart, coming off the bench. You know, he had the damn near zero line in his first preseason game over 20 minutes and did not

look particularly part of the flow at all. This one was far better. 14 points, 511 from the field, two of eight from behind the arc, but also four steals, very, very active and disruptive and just looked like a much, he looked much more comfortable with everything that was going on there and also just like he had a more defined purpose while he was on the floor. Well, he certainly had the ball. And he was later in the game, especially as Reeves and Lucas sat, Smart had the ball on his hands a lot more.

He did sort of more point guard functioning. kinds of things, which probably makes some difference. But it was really interesting. We'll get to the starting lineup here in a second. But like it was interesting to me. I just sort of noticed a speed difference, not just from like his first game to this one, which was obviously kind of night and day. But early in the game, I was, you know, in his first appearances and he was in within,

I want to say five minutes. Yeah, he was the first sub off the bench. And they went to that sub pretty quickly. Um, so like I'm watching it. It's like he's not moving poorly and, you know, defensively, you can tell he's a guy who understands what he's supposed to be doing and when and more importantly where. Um, you know, in the right spot, very physically, very strong, hard to move, but not bursting from one spot to the next. And then all of a sudden, like, he kind of cranked it up a little bit. And the second half you saw him put the ball on the floor a little bit and, and penetrate and stuff like that.

And it's like, oh, okay, there is some bursts. Like he was moving and had some explosion and some quickness and all that kind of stuff. And results aside, and they were certainly much better, especially as the game went along. I was just encouraged by like literally what he looked like moving around the floor and the activity level, even more than the numbers themselves. Yeah, yeah, back-to-back steals on consecutive possessions. He drew at least one charge. I can remember off the top of my head.

And he just seemed much more engaged in the flow of things and more comfortable. I wouldn't be shocked if some of this is just given the way he got a late start on his training camp because of that Achilles tendonopathy, if he is still just kind of getting his legs under him, still kind of getting himself into more basketball rhythm and timing and stuff like that. and the more extended minutes that he plays in a game like this and just more extended time on the floor, hopefully he just continues to look better. But this was a much, much more positive, optimistic step in the right direction for Marcus Smart. Well, it's interesting, too.

Like, he hasn't played tons of basketball. Like, I know last year it was in the 40s, but over the last couple of years, I'm just looking up as game totals. it's not high. So like he hasn't played a ton either. So not only do you not get the, the ramp up, like the normal full preseason ramp up, you know, he's been a little bit in and out. Lakers obviously taking very, you know, a very cautious approach with him.

Yeah. So in total in last year, he played 34 games, the season before that, he played 20. So, you know, he's not, he's played 54 games in the last year. last two seasons. So some of it's just probably there's probably some rust there too. Yeah, absolutely. That goes with with it even if he were, you know, kind of going like in full speed and full shape. It was interesting to me. I don't think many people figured that that fifth spot in this dress rehearsal game, which is what the Lakers were calling it. The fifth starting spot would go to Gabe Vincent, but that is what JJ did.

I don't know if that necessarily means that's what it's going to look like on Tuesday, or if this has become sort of a four concrete starters and a fifth based on who will we play in tonight, what do the matchups look like? But either way, what did you think of it as sort of a choice and a potential option going forward? Well, to add a little bit more potential clarification, Jay, AJ after the game said that, you know, he liked how those guys looked together. The five starters, he talked about all five of them were positive in the plus minus,

that he liked the defensive toughness and the extra ball handler that Gabe Vincent brings. He did acknowledge, though, there could be matchups dictating some of these decisions and that he has a pretty good idea who he's going to start in game one, although he did not say this was the group. but that it could be fluid moving forward, whether because of injuries, the way the season evolves, changes his mind, whatever.

What I thought of it was, I didn't like it for reasons that really did not have a ton to do with Gabe's performance. Gabe played well in this game, like just waiting in one shot. Yeah, grading Gabe against, I guess, himself and just expectations and performance. I thought Gabe played well, and he's had a really good preseason.

And I understand why, if nothing else, JJ would take a look at it because, again, it's been a good preseason for Gabe. And JJ has made it clear he's a big fan of Gabe Vincent, like as a player, as a pro, as a prototype. What I don't like about it is, and I've talked about this before with Gabe, size-wise, I think it sets up the Lakers for a lot of defensive issues and targeting. Some of them could get cut down on if the Lakers do less automatic switching than they did last year. And for what it's worth in the preseason, I think they have done less of it. So we'll see. I just think Gabe can get too easily targeted.

And we saw it last year. And it won't be for a lack of effort. And he does pretty well for his size, but I just think the size is going to be an issue. It was when I initially, I think I was just sort of so surprised. I was like, huh? Like I don't know. I don't really know if I like this. But then having time to kind of think it through over the course of the game,

at least on paper, I get it. Like I don't know if I love it, but I definitely get it. And, you know, what you're trying to do, I think is get a little bit of a lot of stuff. With Gabe, you keep some defensive integrity because, Yet while he can be targeted, he's certainly on this team, especially a plus defender relative to his roster. The defense, to put it generously, remains a work in progress. And I have concerns. So does JJ Redick.

Yes, he does. I think JJ joins you in that. But like, you know, so again, relatively speaking, Gabe is a stronger defender. You know, is he as strong as like Vanderbilt? No, but he's stronger than potentially other options. He provides you some floor spacing, definitely more than Vando. You get some of the secondary ball movement and things like that. So it's like you're getting little pieces of a lot of stuff.

And I think it's while, you know, technically then the Lakers are playing a three guard starting lineup. Luca doesn't guard guards. You know, he is a forward. defensively. And he's actually a big period. Right. It's a conventional lineup in that way.

Because even Reeves as a two, it's not like Reeves is a little two guard, like height wise. He's not six two. So it's a, it actually turns, it's a relatively conventional lineup where I think they're trying to get just a little bit of a lot of stuff.

Whereas with, if you started Vando, who both of us thought would get that slot, a starting slot tonight, you get some of that, defensive intensity, but you lose a lot of things. And this was not Vanderbilt's best game of the, of the preseason, I didn't think. But, you know, Marcus Smart, I wonder if eventually that's

where you go with this before LeBron comes back. And if they're just not quite ready to put him in that situation. Because smart, other than the outside shooting gives you a lot, you know, everything that Vincent's going to do, but more. So you're basically trading spacing for defense. Again, I don't love the decision, but I'm going to, I'm going to look to remain open-minded. And just again, so it is clear, it's less about anything Gabe is doing wrong. And he really has played well in this preseason. I don't like it in terms of potential matchup issues and things like that.

But Gabe has played really well. And that should be acknowledged. My first instinct was, I don't like it. after thinking about it a little bit more, I didn't dislike it as much as I thought. And I'm at least warming up to the concept of, and at least the logic behind why you might want to do it. Any other sort of surprises or things that stuck out for you in this game before we wrap?

I like the way DeAndre Aitin was looking to challenge shots. I think he really is looking to be a disruptive force in the lane and doing his best to at least. I mean, right now he needs more help forming a shell and stuff like that. But I like what he's attempting to do. I thought Luca did a really good job. Sacramento was picking him up and doubling very, very high. And he did a good job getting rid of the ball and putting it in. spaces where the Lakers could keep moving it around.

Like you said, this was not a particularly good game for Austin Reeves, but it's been a very strong preseason for him, so I wouldn't read too much into it. They've got a lot to figure out defensively. This was a game, and we didn't make this clear from the jump, most of Sacramento's main players were not playing in this game. It was basically Dennis Schroeder, Zach Levine, Keon Ellis, who's not a score, and a bunch of guys that probably a lot of you have not heard of because frankly, I'm not super familiar with a lot of them. Yeah, as a dress rehearsal, it wasn't great. No.

I mean, like even with the Lakers projecting to be, you know, you hope to be average or slightly above average, defensively. That's sort of the optimistic-ish hope. This was a group that they should have had a much, they should have had a much easier time making them work harder for their buckets. Sacramento shot almost 55% from the field, almost 45% from behind the arc

and got to the line 28 times. It was not a good defensive performance. No. Not at all. Yeah. right we will be back you know the lakers are likely to take it easy on saturday get some treatment gets you know guys will get some some light workouts in and all that kind of stuff but there won't be media sunday back on the practice floor in preparation for tuesday's opener of course bring you all the the news as the the season opener gets closer but before that

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We'll see everyone on Monday.