Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - POSTCAST Lakers beat the Kings 103-99

Episode Date: December 22, 2024

LeBron James scored 32 points, including a season-high 23 in the first half, and D’Angelo Russell added 20 points off the bench as the Lakers beat the hometown Sacramento Kings 103-99. The Lakers' defense has been ranked number one overall in their last five games, holding opponents to under 100 in three of their last five. The Lakers will look to extend their 3-game winning streak to four on a Monday when they host the Detroit Pistons. Lakers, LA Lakers, Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Rui, Austin Reeves, NBA, Lakers Post cast, JJ Redick, Dalton Knecht, Lakers vs Kings, Los Angeles Lakers vs Sacramento KingsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! RobinhoodRobinhood Gold provides the privileges of a high net worth for any net worth. These generous benefits are now available for only $5/month. The new Gold Standard is here with Robinhood Gold. Sign up at robinhood.com/gold.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.Robinhood GoldRobinhood Gold provides the privileges of a high net worth for any net worth. These generous benefits are now available for only $5/month. The new Gold Standard is here with Robinhood Gold. Sign up at robinhood.com/gold.FAN DUELGet ready to tackle the NFL action with FanDuel America’s – Number One Sportsbook! Because right now, new customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY in BONUS BETS, if you win!Robinhood Gold provides the privileges of a high net worth for any net worth. These generous benefits are now available for only $5/month. The new Gold Standard is here with Robinhood Gold. Sign up at robinhood.com/gold.Mint MobileTo get the new customer offer and your new 3-month premium wireless plan for just $15 a month, go to mintmobile.com/lockedonnba. See Mint Mobile for details.Bilt Rewards. If you’re a renter, listen up – this is a total game-changer. Thanks to Bilt, you can now earn points on rent payments, just like you do with groceries or travel. Paying rent now comes with serious perks, and it’s completely free to join!Earn valuable Bilt Points on your rent and everyday spending – at no extra cost.· Redeem points towards flights, hotel stays, and even future rent payments. With over 500 airlines and 700,000 hotels in their program, the possibilities are endless.Access unique experiences that are exclusive to Bilt members.Start earning points on rent you’re already paying by going to joinbilt.com/LOCKEDONNBA. That’s joinbilt.com/LOCKEDONNBA – make sure to use our link so they know we sent you. Don’t wait, start earning rewards today!BILT PRIZEPICKS – is the best place to get real money sports action. Run your game all season long on PrizePicks. America’s#1 daily fantasy sports app.  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. Lakers come out red hot. LeBron James sets the tone and the Lakers play back-to-back great games in Sacramento. We talk about it all on the Lockdown Lakers Postcast. Again, don't forget about Fandul. Get ready for the NFL action with Fandual, America's number one sports book, because right now new customers can bet $5 and get one. $1,50 in bonus bets if you win.

Lakers come out and they win again, back-to-back games. Now, they're riding a three-game winning streak. What a great week it is for the Lakers when we are so disappointed on the way things are going for the Lakers heading into last Sunday that all of a sudden the Lakers look like a better team. And the Lakers look like a team. You tell me, if you think it looks like a championship team, I don't know if we're there yet, but we're taking baby steps and moving in the right direction.

One thing about the Lakers is we all know right now there are no. easy wins. And I know that sounds crazy because it's tough to win in any professional sport. But for the Lakers as Laker fans, you're spoiled and you understand that we've seen plenty of easy Laker wins. Certain opponents like the Sacramento Kings, whether it's the San Antonio Spurs, whether it's a team that used to be like the Atlanta Hawks, that in years past, whether it was Kobe, Shaq, Magic Kareem, there were easy, easy, easy, blowout wins. We say, okay, they can get healthy for the next game when there's, it might be a tougher opponent. Not the case, of course, on Monday when they face the Pistons, but we'll get into that as

well. But for the Lakers, everything right now is a struggle. It is not easy. And so for them to come out after winning two nights ago in Sacramento, really strange, kind of felt like the whole playoff series, like you're playing the Kings. Not a great Kings team, not Kings teams we used to see 20 years ago. But still, as a professional athlete, you go there are a lot of other cities. I'd rather spend basically three nights in than Sacramento. But for the Lakers, they stayed focused. And they're ready to go. And what was interesting about tonight's game for me compared to what you've seen in the past is that there was someone there to spark the energy.

And so for the Lakers on Thursday night, that was Austin Reeves. Austin Reeves came out with his hair on fire, and Austin Reeves was outstanding. And so he kind of set the tone where, hey, if you don't have energy, Austin Reeves is going to pick you up. You're going to feed off of him. It's tough to do when you aren't considered a regular all-star. Well, tonight it was different. It was LeBron James.

And LeBron James, whenever he has energy, trust me, you better keep up because he's the kind of guy that has the right to call you out for not playing your A game. And so for LeBron James to look like the king of old, and again, as we know, there's a big birthday coming up that everybody's talking about about him turning 40. And you're starting to see different records drop here and there, whether it's minutes, whether it's most 30-point games. It's pretty incredible to see what LeBron James is doing. I don't know about Drew, but I'm excited he's doing it all in a Laker uniform. So let's go back to the beginning. And how did we get to the 103.99 final score? Because the second half, the Lakers only outscored the Kings by two.

And so when you, excuse me, actually, by three, hold on, let's go to this again. Looking at the math right now, Lakers outscored by one. It gets harder every single time I look at it. All right. So the Lakers, I'm going to break it down for you. In the first quarter, outscored the Kings 31, 26. They were outscored in the second quarter, 27, 25. At the half, the Lakers leave 56, 53.

in the third quarter, Lakers outscore the Kings by 1, 25, 24, and then in the fourth, it's 22, 22, to give you that 103-99 win. So again, it's only a one-point difference in the second half. But how did it start for the Lakers? It started almost exactly the same way it did on Thursday. And if you remember, the Lakers jumped out to a quick 7-0 run. And so for the Lakers to jump out to a 7-0 run,

fantastic. A lot of that had to do with Austin Reeves two nights ago. Today, as I said, it was LeBron James. His energy was outstanding, fed off LeBron. LeBron in the first quarter, 12 points, three rebounds, two assists. It was almost like LeBron listened to the show. And Don't know he didn't listen to the show. But at the same time, what do we talk about a lot about the Lakers and their struggles and why they look different? What's different about LeBron's game? And we don't want to believe it's age

because that's sad. But for LeBron, he took the ball to the basket a lot, a lot. He showed how physically was. He's a unique body. He looks different than everybody else. He takes care of his body. He's always looked that way since he came into the league as basically a teenager, but he's still the wide shoulders. He's fast as can be, strong. But LeBron James, it's easy to avoid contact when you're sitting out there behind the arc or you're willing to take the mid-gradant jumper. But LeBron is one of those guys that to me can take to the basket almost every time he wants and he can score. And so with LeBron, the difference, as I said in the last show compared to Michael Jordan or Kobe, I always felt Kobe and, and, and, you know,

and Jordan were killers, whereas LeBron doesn't seem to be that same guy. So tonight, LeBron was a killer, especially in the first quarter, and the team fed off of it. You had to love it. If you watched that entire game, you had to love the way LeBron James attacked the Sacramento Kings. So it wasn't okay to split and get back on the plane back to L.A. He was looking for the sweep, and he needed to feed off his energy. I loved everything about it.

It was my favorite LeBron game of the year by far. Okay, so the Lakers, again, jump out to a 7-0 run. Also, the Lakers, they look decent shooting three-pointers. So this is something J.J. Reddick has talked about for a long time. This is what he wants to be the Lakers identity. He wants the Lakers to be a decent three-point shooting team. The Lakers, again, two nights in a row shot very well from three-point range, which was fantastic.

The Lakers 40% in the first quarter from behind the arc, 60% from the field. Pretty good. Again, that was the quarter where the Lakers had the biggest point differential, 31, 26 over the Kings. Outstanding. Okay, in the second quarter, outside of LeBron's 11 points, the Lakers played sloppy in the second quarter.

Kind of disappointing, right? You're seeing more turnovers. And the Lakers basically going at the Kings, you're going, how do you let them back in the game? And a little bit frustrating, right, to see that the Lakers can't sit there and put a team away, a team like Sacramento, who should not be a playoff team? And so it becomes a little bit frustrating.

At the half, LeBron James. his previous high was 22 points at the half. He had 23 in the first half of this game, and that was great. And the reason is he was more aggressive, taking the ball to the basket, using his body, not afraid of contact, actually embracing contact. Nobody was more fired up when LeBron would get the ball and score underneath the hoop than LeBron. Look at him, chest bumping guys, as the Kings are calling time out, as the Kings are trying to change momentum. They couldn't do anything about it. Now, you'd love to see LeBron and Anthony Davis have back-to-back, or at the same time, solid games together, and that's not exactly what happened.

Anthony Davis kind of disappeared tonight. A little bit frustrating because Anthony Davis was outstanding against the Kings on Thursday. Of course, we remember the 20 points, the 20 rebounds, the six blocks, and everything Anthony Davis was ready to do. Now, you know the Kings of Mike Brown to get ready for this game. They probably broke down a lot of things that they thought they did wrong. And they said they can't let Anthony Davis beat you. And so Davis did not play great in the first half.

but at the same time, you don't ever want to question someone's effort. And for Davis, it kind of seemed like he was checked out. Kind of like the heat game, you hate to say a pro athlete checks out, especially again when he's one of your favorite team's uniform, but also at the same time, you don't want to say a guy checked out because he's getting paid a ton of money. You know, he's basically living the dream. So he did not play well in the first half.

He was 0 for 4 from the field, finished the first half with two points, and those were two made free throws. but it was frustrating. So at this point, you go, okay, where are the Lakers from here? Lakers are 12 and 2 when leading at the half, heading into this half. They're now 13 and 2. Lakers only bench points, not great. It was 17 off the bench.

Well, D'Angelo Russell, he had 14 of those 17. So at least D'Angelo was there to pick things up, and we talk about this all the time. D'Angelo, a former All-Star. He was once an All-Star. That's right. But D'Anglo Roastle, does he want to stay a Laker? You know, a lot of talk, of course, the last few days with the interview of Danilo Russell embracing his new role. Did you do that interview and answer those questions with a smile on his face or do you just say, it's my role. It is tough to go from being a guy that's an all-star, being a starter his entire career to a guy that is now coming off the bench. It's an ego problem. A lot of players have to go through it. Some guys embrace it. We've seen it through the history of NBA. There's some guys who embrace it. Michael Cooper used to embrace it. You know, Kevin McHale embraced it with the Celtics back in the day all the way to the Hall of Fame. And you wonder, Daniela Russell, can you embrace an

actually mean it. And for the Lakers, they need D'Angelo Russell to be the best version of himself coming off the bench because at some point, you have to use your bench players, right? You want to be at least eight deep in the NBA. It's a long season. You want to be at least eight deep. You go to the postseason. He might be able to play with seven, but nobody's playing with just five. It doesn't work that way. And D'Angelo Russell, it's important for him to come off the bench and be the best version of himself. Tonight, we saw it. Danilo Russell had 14 in the first half. Gabe Vincent had three, and that's how the Lakers had their 17. The move that is kind of, disappointing and sad, but yet this is what you earn.

And an NBA and pro sports, it's what you earn. There's no daddy ball. Dalton Connect only played five minutes. I got news for you. This is what Dalton Connect has earned because he has been terrible for about a month now. Dalton Connect only played five minutes in the first half, didn't attempt a shot, and he basically finished with just one assist. Barely knew he was out there for the five minutes that he played.

For the Kings, it was Darren Fox. Of course, he had 17. Darren Fox is a freak. he's one of those major mismatches in the NBA for any team. He's just so fast and can do so many things well. For Fox, he made almost everything he threw up. Again, he connected on six and seven shots, including a three-pointer. Darren Fox is a freak.

And a lot of times, if you're like me, you go back in the draft and go, where was he in the draft and could we have had him? Yeah, the Lakers could have had him. At one point, the Lakers could have had him, but they decided to not go to that route. But again, extremely, extremely quick. One of those guys that almost feels like he's wasting his career in Sacramento. I know. The Lakers turned the ball over nine times compared only five for the Kings, kind of disappointing there, but they were aggressive. This is one of those nights where

the turnover's happened in the first half, and I didn't hate it because the Lakers were aggressive. If you're going to make mistakes being aggressive, fine. If you're going to make mistakes for being lazy, then you got an issue with it. Lakers out rebounded the Kings in the first half, 26, 23. And so there you go. You go into the half and maybe you're a little bit disappointed of saying the Lakers, he expected a little bit more from them. And you're hoping for a little bit more. but in the half, the Lakers go in after the second quarter. Sacramento outscores him 27, 25, and Lakers trying to hold on where you're hoping that maybe it was a blowout,

and that's not what happened. That's not what happened at all. The Lakers weren't in that case of having the blowout situation. So it happens right there. We're going to get into the second half in just a little bit and exactly what to look forward on the Lakers coming up. But again, want to mention the people over at prize picks. prize picks again it's interesting right now when you can play fantasy sports right there through

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Here we are about a week later. And I am on cloud down that this team is winning games. And I hate to go through a season with the team is struggling. I don't know what it is with the Lakers. I expect perfection. I expect winning. I expect championship runs. But it feels so much better than when you win.

And so for the Lakers, the fact that they're winning is big right now. So let's look at that box score for you a little bit. Here's the deal. LeBron James, he finished with 32 points. 32 points. Great night for LeBron. LeBron 13 to 24 shooting. Look, one of eight from three point range.

I understand he's firing them up and wants them to fall. But one of eight, at some point you've got to realize, you know what, tonight's not my night from. let's keep doing what I've been doing. And again, if he had 23 in the first half and finished with 32, he got a little bit crazy with the three-point shot, get a little bit out of hand. Free throws, he was five or six, seven rebounds for LeBron,

six to hit, six assists, four steals, but also to go along with four turnover. So he kind of gave those back, right? He got the four steals and four turnovers. He kind of gives that back. So everything he did good, he kind of gives away right there. Austin Reeves for the second night, again, double digits for Austin Reeves. Austin Reeves again coming off that injury from a few weeks ago with the pelvic injury and 36 minutes for Austin Reeves, he had 16 points.

Played a solid game. You know, I love to see great team basketball. But Austin Reeves, 16 points, five assists, four rebounds for him, turn the ball over two, only two times. The interesting thing about Austin Reeves, and I know there was one major collision where it was kind of like a hit. And then if you watch a lot of NFL like I do, you're like, was at a concussion? Kind of concern right there. but three of five from the line. And for him to miss free throws,

you kind of scratch your head a little bit, especially when that game was close at the end. You go, man, we can't miss these free throws. For the Lakers, by the way, only shot 67% from the line. It's one of the easiest ways to see, hey, why did your team lose the game? First thing I look at is free throws missed,

the amount of points that you lost by, and then you look at the turnovers, and it's easy to figure out why your team did not win a game. But for the Lakers, struggling. When Austin Reeves, you expect him to make those free throws, not great. Anthony Davis, again, kind of sluggish. Anthony Davis, he finished with eight points in the second half, but two in the first half, disappointing for Anthony Davis, it kind of wasn't there. Four or ten shooting. He played 37 minutes tonight. Look, 10 points, 15 rebounds. He turned it on in the second half. I don't know what was said or maybe it was self-reflection, but he was able to hustle, get some big boards at the time. And we all know some bonus gives him a hard time throughout his career. But for Anthony Davis to finish their 15 rebounds, that's something he did solid. The other thing he was solid with the block shots, remember three block shots for

Anthony Davis. So that's a big stat tonight, by the way. When you look at the Lakers, they had six blocks shots. You look at the block shots for the Kings, they had zero. It's big. And I think when you're a shooter and you're underneath the basket or if you're shooting a three or mid-range jumper, a block shot is kind of devastating and embarrassing when it happens to you. The fact the Lakers did it six times and the Kings didn't do it at all says a lot for what the Lakers were doing. Now, if If we followed the show and we talked Laker basketball on this Lakers postcast, we talk about all the time about Rui and how Rui is one of the ultimate team players. If you watch that game at the end, this is why Rui is a Laker.

For everything you saw at the end of the game, this is why Rui is a Laker. You look at the stat line and you go 9.38 minutes, that doesn't seem impressive at all. But the 11 rebounds, including some clutch ones in the last minute of the game, even the deflections, which is basically a controlled rebound, Rui was outstanding. He is a great team player for when you have superstars and the Lakers have superstars in the future Hall of Famers, Anthony Davis and LeBron James.

Rui's on this team for a reason. He's one of those guys that's maybe one of the more underappreciated guys in the league, just an outstanding player and glad he's worn a Laker uniform. Austin Reeves, as I said, 16. Max Christie was the other starter and Max, five points in 17 minutes. Max is kind of just there. The Lakers kind of don't have any other options. right now. Max Christie, you can possibly bring them off the bench, but I think for the Lakers,

if Dalton Connect was playing the way he's supposed to play, then Dalton Connect would have that guy that had that starting spot, and I think it would make things a lot easier for the Lakers where there's actually a real offensive threat. That's why we talk about possible trades for this team in the future to say, what can you add for when a guy like Anthony Davis says in an offensive game today, or you look at LeBron James, who obviously was when it carries you, but you need another threat. Max Christie right now is just a guy that's kind of there. Not terrible, but at the same time, not great either. So 17 points, two of four shooting, made one or two, three point shots, did not go to the line at all, three rebounds, two steals,

and that was it. No assist. No assist for Max Christie. So bench play. So how did the Lakers do the bench? Well, the bench actually provided 31 of the 103 points for the Lakers tonight. DeAngelo Russell finished with 20 office. the bench that he was the bright star underrated off the bench was cam reddish cam reddish in 22 minutes five points but it's not the five points in 22 minutes is everything else that cam reddish did defensively cam reddish played a big role in tonight's game actually came through with some big plays if you just look at the box score you don't realize how great cam reddish was tonight and i think if he asked his teammates he asked j jadden jredic uh what did you think of cam reddish's game they said it's an a plus game he played a great game tonight

for the lakers oh three from three point range he has no business you shooting threes. One of them he had to shoot because the clock was running out, but Cameronich isn't an offensive threat at all. Kind of strange how his game has developed into this, where he's, he's kind of just a defensive guy. I don't know if he wants to say he's a lockdown guy. He's not exactly a Michael Cooper or Dennis Rodman type guy, but for the Lakers, he basically supplies defense. And for the Lakers, defense has been key this week. Again, in the last five games, the Lakers are the number one rated defensive team in the NBA. They've held their opponents to less than 100 points in three of those five games.

So the Lakers are playing good defense, whether it's good communication or guys taking pride in being out there and doing the things they need to do. Overall, you have to be very pleased with what you're getting from, from Cam Reddish. But again, I think they need to add somebody else. That's why I ask you all the time, who do you want to see this team trade for?

None of you ever have a suggestion. I keep throwing Brandon Ingram out there. I want to see what you think this team needs. So it's interesting to see what's going to be next. for the Lakers and what they do to move forward. I want to mention the people over at Fandall. Get ready to tackle the NFL action with Fandul, America's number one sports book right now.

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You'll get started with the $150 and bonus bets. If you win on a first $5 bet, that's fandul.com. All right. So looking at the Lakers and saying what's going on with this team and what do they need to do to get better because they win tonight, 103.99 and two games on the road in Sacramento. Again, a bunch of games coming up at home on the schedule. This is a chance for the Lakers to get healthy in a hurry and make a day. dent, what do the Lakers need to do? Daniel says here, Lakers own Sacramento. Fine, Lakers own Sacramento.

Let's keep it going, Daniel. I'm with you on that one. At the same time, defense was good again. Craig says, defense was great again. It's big. I know defense is boring. And they don't show a ton of defensive highlights. When you get in your feet on your phone and you're looking at, you know, NBA highlights over the years, it's not a ton of defense. It's dunks and it's three-pointers and it's passing. But at the same time, The defense is what's winning right now for the Lakers, and this is what they need. They don't have tremendous offensive threats outside of the big two guys that you can rely on, especially when one of them doesn't show up like Anthony Davis didn't. Defense can sit there and earn you a win.

At the same time, teams don't like playing teams that are great defensive teams. It's very frustrating for them. It throws the matter of their game. It takes away their confidence. Teams do not like facing teams that play solid defense. It might be boring to you as a fan, but here we are as fans. We're watching the scoreboard. Our favorite thing is the scoreboard.

We aren't looking for individual highlights. You look at back in the day, I'm going to age myself right now. Dominic Wilkins, just have some great highlights for the Atlanta Hawks. Hawks lost all the time, never won a championship. That's not about that. It's all about the scoreboard and what it takes to get there. So for the Lakers, if you're like me, right now you're extremely excited. This has been a great week of Laker basketball, solid basketball,

beat a solid team in Memphis, and then you go on the road to get two road wins. This is exciting for the Lakers and for us as Laker fans. to see this team do a little bit better, and you can see them getting better. If you watch the game tonight, you got to love LeBron, whether it's the fountain of youth, and he say, LeBron, man, I liked everything I saw.

There's one of my plays, one of my favorite plays today, and if you watch the entire game was the Lakers had a break, and LeBron caught the ball up high, and then he did a two-handed, two-handed bounce pass for the easy basket. It wasn't easy. I mean, up in there and almost like, You're spiking the ball and a perfect pass. It was not an easy pass.

I trust Magic Johnson, my favorite guy of all time. And I love watching Magic Pass the ball. But he also had guys like Worthy and he had to Kareem and he had Michael Cooper and Byron Scott. He had guys that could finish the fact that LeBron has to get his teammates involved when he needs to and that they deliver and makes him want to be obviously more of a facilitator. We love watching it. We remember the year in 2020 when the Lakers won the championship. LeBron was an outstanding passer, a very underrated passer. And I think LeBron has played this game long enough where he enjoys scoring as much as he enjoys passing and vice versa.

So it's fun to watch. There's certain guys who are just scores and they feel better about their game when they score. LeBron never seems like that guy. Kobe was a guy that would say, if I can't beat you in my offense, I'll beat you with my defense. He never gave you an inch. Michael Jordan didn't give you an inch defensively as well. But I love the way LeBron played tonight. I cannot say enough great things about the way he played.

If LeBron did not come out the way he did, Lakers don't win this game. The Lakers again, out to that 7-0 run, LeBron James was outstanding tonight. So that was big. Okay. So here's the deal, let you know that the Lakers, again, not only have played extremely well the last, you know, five games, the Lakers have an advantage on the schedule. After Christmas, 11 of the Lakers' next 14 games will be at home. Now, one of those three road games will actually be in town.

They visit the Clippers for the first time in their arena. So they don't have to get on a plane. that don't have to stay in a hotel, but they're able to steal a road game that basically keeps them at home, sleep in your own bed, your own comfort zone, eat the foods you normally like to eat,

and you're in charge of your own body, your own schedule. It's big. So the Lakers right now get a chance to take advantage of the schedule, and whatever it takes for the Lakers to take advantage of the schedule, that's great.

I also want to remind you, don't forget the Lockdown Lakers Daily podcast. Don't forget Brian and Andy, they do a great job. They're there with you every single day. If you want to follow Laker basketball, Lockdown Lakers, Lockdown Lakers,

locked on Los Angeles. Brian and Andy, they do a great job. So you want to make sure that you're following those guys. Again, love talking Laker basketball. Let's keep the momentum going with this team and what they're doing moving forward. Let's look at the standings. What is tonight to win do for the Lakers? Now, the Lakers had the first game of the day today.

Playing a 3 o'clock start was very interesting. Playing on a Saturday has been very interesting. If you're a fan like me, the Lakers hardly ever played Saturday games because the Kings usually would have Saturdays, Lakers play Friday night, Sunday night. Clippers always got stuck with that afternoon game. Always made me laugh that the Clippers weren't important enough. But the Lakers usually always had the night games on Friday and Sundays and didn't play

on Saturdays unless it was a big national game. The Lakers wouldn't even play an afternoon game on a Sunday. So what did the wind do for the Lakers tonight? What have I been preaching the entire time if you follow this postcast is that the Lakers need to be a four seed. Let's be a four seed going into the playoffs. I understand it's only December 21st, but let's put our. self in position right now. Number one seed still remains Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City is on fire right now.

22 and 5. The amazing with Oklahoma City, not only are they young, but they have done this mostly without Chet Holmgren, which is a dominating player for them. Oklahoma City has won seven straight, nine of their last 10. Memphis Grizzlies are eight and two in their last 10. They have the number two seed. Hey, we just knocked off Memphis last Sunday. So that was a big win, as we said. Rockets still hanging in. Their rockets are now six and four in their last 10, but the rockets are hanging in at the three seed, 18 and nine. I'll say it to the season's over. I expect the Houston Rockets to eventually drop. Dallas Mavericks, again, a team that's loaded with veteran talent.

Dallas Mavericks have the four seed, 17 and 10. And lo and behold, look who's number five. Number five is the LA Lakers. The Lakers, where it seemed like just a few days ago, the Lakers were on the verge of falling out of the playoff picture. The Lakers are now up to number five. We're only one spot away from being where I want the Lakers to be if the postseason begins. Lakers are now 16 and 12. They've won three straight games, and they're playing right now their best basketball this season.

Great week for the Lakers, best week of the Lakers for the Lakers this season happened right now. Let's keep the momentum going. Clippers are the sixth seed, Nuggets are the seventh seed, timberwolds are the eighth seed, Sons are nine, and the Golden State Warriors at 14 and 12 are the 10th seed. So we all know we're going to face the Golden State Warriors in the Bay Area on Christmas Day. Guess what? The Warriors have lost three straight games. Perfect time to face the Warriors.

They've only won two of their last 10 games. Let's sneak out a win against Golden State and keep it going. For the Lakers, their next game is going to be on Monday. Guess what? They'll be at home and they're facing the Detroit Pistons. Now, if you recall, earlier in the year, the Detroit Pistons got one from the Lakers. That was a frustrating loss because the Pistons are never a good team. I haven't been a good team in years.

but it was one of those what was an effort game. And you say, well, this happens all the time where a team and the NBA doesn't come out with their best effort. That was very frustrating. That's one of those where you hope it doesn't come back to haunt you to say, okay, why don't we have the seed we need to have? That loss of the Pistons hurt. So the Pistons are 11 and 17. They've only won four of their last 10 and the 13 games back in the Eastern Conference. And my opinion, kind of weak Eastern Conference.

So the Pistons at 1117, again, have only won four of their last 10. They visit the Lakers. it's going to be a 730 tip-off on Monday at Crypto. So there you go. If you're curious to know the top two seeds in the east, it's Cleveland, 24 and 4. Amazing. They won seven of their last 10. Celtics, 21 and 6.

The defending champs are 7 and 3 in their last 10. And so there you go. But if you were to say what's the most surprising thing in the NBA, you might say it's that Cleveland has the number one seed in the east at 24 and 4 with the overall best record. I think there's a big difference. like it has been for years where the East just isn't as strong as the West, but it doesn't matter. You have to get by the people in your conference to get a chance to be in the NBA finals.

One of those things we'll talk about later on in future shows, as far as would you like to see the NBA put the best 20 teams in the playoffs. It doesn't matter if they're in the East or the West. It just seems kind of strange. It's been this way for years. And it makes sense because so many free agents get tired of playing in the cold. They go, you know what? I don't want to be in the cold.

And you say, well, the games are indoors. It is cold. When you're sitting in driving to practice through the snow or you have to get out of your car just to walk into the arena, it gets old pretty quick, pretty nice when you live on the West Coast or if you're, you know, in a situation where, you know, the weather is warm and it's, you know, Phoenix even. And you go, it's better than being in Milwaukee or it's better than being in Detroit. It's better than being in Boston where it's cold. So for the Lakers, here we go.

We're moving forward. to extend that win streak, three-game win-strike. They're looking for four on Monday when they take on on the Pistons at 730. I'm going to be here with you for the postcast, and again, invite you to join me as well. But what a week. What a week it has been for the Lakers. Let's keep it going. It's a lot of fun.

Again, final score, Lakers 103, Sacramento Kings 99. We'll see you Monday night.