The Lakers Remained Confident During Rough Patch — And It’s Paying Off

ORLANDO, Fla. — The position the Lakers were in three weeks ago wasn’t a new one — and that was part of the problem. 

They dropped their third consecutive game after a narrow road loss to the Suns on Feb. 26, which was their third three-game losing streak over the previous two months. 

The lack of consistency across the board — from the player availability because of health to the play on the court — was reflected in their 19-20 record from Dec. 1-Feb. 26.  

But they didn’t let go of the rope, knowing they still had a little over a fourth of the season to get right. And the team’s confidence in itself to find its level didn’t waver, even during moments it easily could’ve. 

Coach JJ Redick made this belief clear before the team’s nationally televised matchup against the Warriors in San Francisco on Feb. 28. 

“We’re confident we’re going to have a breakthrough,” he said at the time. “The breakthrough is not always in wins and losses. The breakthrough is in how we’re playing and how we’re playing together, and we’re confident we’re going to find it.”

How have the Lakers responded to Redick reiterating his belief in them?

By winning 12 of their next 13 games, and going on a nine-game winning streak for their best stretch of consecutive victories since 2019-20, with their breakthrough being as evident as it’s been during Saturday’s win over the Magic at Kia Center. 

“It is really easy in some of those situations, to kind of let go of the rope,” Austin Reaves said. “I feel like a lot of the time, it’s easy to kind of just say ‘on to the next one.’”

And if Saturday’s game, and the way it went, happened earlier in the season, that may have been the Lakers’ approach. 

There were several games it was clear they “let go of the rope,” as Reaves put it, which is part of the reason their first 12 losses and 19 of their first 22 defeats were by double digits. 

Despite their stellar record in clutch games, if the adversity was too significant in the middle portions of games, whether it was their shotmaking dipping, their turnovers being more frequent or opponents hitting tougher shots than usual, then their effort waned. 

Not anymore. 

Yes, they blew a 14-point first-quarter lead. But they closed the second quarter well enough to only be trailing by three entering halftime. 

Yes, Luka Dončić picked up his 16th technical foul of the season, which will lead to a one-game suspension for Monday’s road game against the Pistons, and was part of the team’s shotmaking struggles in the final three quarters. And there were a lot of calls, or no-calls, that frustrated them. But the Lakers found other ways to stay in the game through offensive rebounding, defense and passing for better shots. 

As Redick put it, the team’s breakthrough isn’t just reflected in their record over the last few weeks.

It’s been in their ability to stick together through adversity and not splinter. 

“We’ve had a number of things happen in the last couple of weeks; we’ve had a number of things happen on this road trip that has shown growth for our group,” Redick said. “We did a good job of just playing through stuff, whether it was some cold shooting, some hot shooting for them, for a little stretch there, getting down, playing on the road. The external circumstances of whatever [Saturday] was and not allowing that to get us off our game.”

And the Lakers having a better idea of what their “game” is remains their biggest area of growth.

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