Luka Doncic

L.A. Notes: Powell, Harden, Hayes, Lakers’ Offseason

March 17th, 2025 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers didn’t ask much from Norman Powell as he returned to the court Sunday night, but they didn’t need a big contribution from their leading scorer in a 35-point win over Charlotte, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Playing for just the second time since the All-Star break, Powell scored seven points in 22 minutes and Carr observed that the enthusiasm he displayed as he skipped onto the court showed his excitement to be playing again.

Carr notes that coach Tyronn Lue has found a way to keep the team successful without Powell’s 23.4 points per game. While he was sidelined, Lue focused the offense around Kawhi Leonard, Ivica Zubac and James Harden.

“(We were) understanding how we want to play through guys,” Lue said, “and I think we’re getting more comfortable playing through Kawhi, playing through Zu, and James is just James.”

L.A. has managed to stay in contention for an automatic playoff spot, trailing sixth-place Golden State by just a game and a half. Powell’s return comes at a good time as the schedule is about to get much tougher with home games this week against Cleveland, Memphis and Oklahoma City.

“We pretty much need to win these games,” Leonard said. “Obviously, James is playing at a great level, Zu too. They played great individual basketball, being efficient and (Bogdan Bogdanovic) being great as well, making threes. It’s just been a collective group of thinking, just making shots that have been helping us.”

There’s more from Los Angeles:

Harden has a streak of 15 straight playoff appearances that dates back to his rookie season with the Thunder, Carr adds in a separate story. It’s the fourth-longest such streak in NBA history, but he’ll have to go through the play-in tournament to extend it if the Clippers can’t move into the top six.
The Lakers also welcomed back an important player on Sunday as center Jaxson Hayes returned after missing the four-game road trip with a bruised right knee, per Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Hayes tied his season high with 19 points while shooting 8-of-10 from the field, and Price notes that all his baskets came off assists from Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. “Just the vertical spacer is massive,” coach J.J. Redick told reporters before the game. “It’s not just in pick-and-rolls, but it’s on drives. Just the threat of that that Jaxson has provided has been so good for Luka, for LeBron (James), for (Reaves), so excited to get that back.”
Finding another center will be an offseason priority for the Lakers, whether it’s someone to take over the starting role or serve as a backup to Hayes, Jovan Buha of The Athletic said on his latest podcast (hat tip to BasketNews). L.A. acquired Mark Williams from Charlotte before the deadline, but eventually rescinded the trade due to concerns about Williams’ physical condition. Buha also expects the team to try to work out extensions with Doncic and Reaves and to reach new deals with James and Dorian Finney-Smith. Doncic will become eligible in August for a four-year extension worth an estimated $228.6MM.

Injury Notes: Mavericks, Doncic, Lonzo, Ivey

March 14th, 2025 at 6:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks will once again have just nine players available on Friday in Houston. Forward P.J. Washington, who is dealing with a right ankle sprain, was originally listed as questionable, but he has been ruled out and will miss a seventh consecutive game, according to Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

Head coach Jason Kidd explained that with the Mavericks scheduled to play an early-afternoon game against Philadelphia on Sunday, Washington was unlikely to be available for that contest if he plays tonight. So, as Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning relays (via Twitter), the decision was made to hold the forward out of Friday’s game, but it sounds like he should be ready to return in a couple days.

There has been no indication that any other injured Maverick is on the verge of being activated. Kidd did say that Anthony Davis (adductor strain) “continues to trend in the right direction,” but there’s no timeline for his return, tweets Townsend.

Besides only having nine players available, Kidd is also limited in how much he can use several of those players. Dante Exum is on a minutes limit of about 20-to-25 per game, while Dwight Powell, Caleb Martin, and Brandon Williams all remain on minutes restrictions too, per Townsend (Twitter link).

Here are a few more injury-related notes from across the NBA:

Already missing LeBron James, the Lakers will be without their other star on Friday in Denver. They’ve ruled out Luka Doncic, who is managing a left calf issue as well as a right ankle sprain, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. The Lakers have lost three games in a row and will face long odds to snap that streak on Friday with their top two players inactive.
Bulls guard Lonzo Ball, who has been sidelined for the past six games due to a sprained right wrist, told his teammates before they embarked on a six-game road trip that he’d see them “on the second half of the trip,” tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network. It’s unclear whether that means Ball expects to return to action by then or if he’ll just meet up with the team at that point — either way, it sounds like he’ll be out for at least three more games.
Despite being ruled out for at least four more weeks on Thursday, Pistons guard Jaden Ivey hasn’t given up on the idea of returning to action this spring, as Eric Woodyard of ESPN relays. As the No. 6 seed in the East, Detroit is well-positioned to make the playoffs, so the team should continue playing beyond the end of the regular season for the first time since 2019, giving Ivey more time to recover. “It’s definitely motivating. I want to be out there so bad,” he said. “And I’m putting in the work to get back so just seeing those guys go out there and compete hard, that’s all I want to do is compete and play the game of basketball so it’s definitely encouraging and exciting to see.”

Western Notes: Jokic, SGA, Thunder, Zion, Doncic

March 12th, 2025 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s top two MVP candidates split a pair of games in Oklahoma City on Sunday and Monday, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s Thunder securing a 24-point win in the first game and Nikola Jokic‘s Nuggets responding with a 13-point victory in the second end of the back-to-back.

In between those two contests, according to Fred Katz and Tony Jones of The Athletic, Nuggets coach Michael Malone broached the subject of having Jokic, who is dealing with elbow and ankle injuries, sit out on Monday. The Nuggets center’s reply? “Hell no.”

After Jokic led Denver to a victory on Monday with 35 points, 18 rebounds, and eight assists, his coach made the case that the star big man deserves his fourth Most Valuable Player award.

“Obviously, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a great player, and if he wins his first MVP, he’s deserving of that,” Malone said. “My thing is this: If you didn’t know that Nikola won three MVPs, and I put Player A and Player B on paper … the guy that was averaging a triple-double, the guy that is top-three in the three major statistical categories, things that no one has ever done, he wins the MVP 10 times out of 10. And if you don’t think so, I think you guys are all bulls—ting.”

Asked by ESPN’s Tim MacMahon if team record should factor into the equation, Malone pointed out that the Nuggets were the No. 1 seed in the West in 2023, the only year of the last four in which Jokic wasn’t named MVP. However, Malone added that he won’t be upset if Gilgeous-Alexander wins the award and that he simply feels the need to advocate for his guy in the midst of another historic season. As for Jokic’s two cents on the MVP race?

“This is my third or fourth year in a row, so I’m really — I don’t know. I cannot control it,” the Nuggets star said of the debate. “Obviously, I think I’m playing the best basketball of my life. So if that’s enough, it’s enough. If not, the guy (Gilgeous-Alexander) deserves it. He’s really amazing.”

Here are a few more notes from around the Western Conference:

The Oklahoma City Council has signed off on the next step toward the Thunder‘s new arena, approving contracts with a pair of construction companies who will partner to build the new venue, according to a a press release. Prairie Surf Studios, which currently occupies the space where the arena will be located, is scheduled to be demolished this spring. After that, the plan is to begin construction on the new building in 2026 and complete it in 2028.
Less than two weeks after recording the first triple-double of his NBA career, Pelicans forward Zion Williamson had another one on Tuesday, racking up 22 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds in a win over the Clippers. While New Orleans is well out of this season’s postseason race, Williamson’s excellent all-around play in recent weeks has been an encouraging sign for his development, notes Brett Martel of The Associated Press. “When he’s in high-level conditioning, like he is, he’s really tough to guard and he’s doing it all,” head coach Willie Green said. “He’s rebounding. He’s defending.”
The Lakers got off to a terrific start in the Luka Doncic era, reeling off eight consecutive wins from February 20 to March 6. However, as John Hollinger of The Athletic writes, the underlying numbers suggest it will take some more time for the star guard to build chemistry with his new teammates. Doncic’s shooting numbers as a Laker so far (.399 FG%, .322 3PT%) are well below his usual rates, while his turnover rate (4.2 per game) is up.

Stein’s Latest: Davis, Lively, Mavs, Durant, Billups, More

March 10th, 2025 at 3:57pm CST by Rory Maher

Perhaps the most interesting development in Sunday’s matchup between Phoenix and Dallas was something that took place off the court, as Mavericks big man Anthony Davis was on the bench and was “clearly itching to play,” according to NBA insider Marc Stein (Substack link).

Stein hears that Davis played some 2-on-2 over the weekend for the first time since he strained his left adductor on February 8 in his Dallas debut.

League sources tell Stein that both Davis and Dereck Lively, who is on the mend from a stress fracture in his right ankle, are on track to get healthy before the end of the season. However, that doesn’t mean they’ll actually suit up again for the Mavericks in 2024/25.

Amid a brutal wave of injuries, including losing Kyrie Irving to a torn ACL, the Mavs have dropped five straight games and are only 1.5 games ahead of Phoenix for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference. And even if they hold onto the No. 10 seed, they’d have to win two straight road games in the play-in tournament to advance as the No. 8 seed, only to face the top-seeded Thunder in the first round.

As Stein observes, any hope the Mavericks had of another deep playoff run have been extinguished. Prioritizing the team’s odds of securing a lottery pick — and avoiding the possibility of Davis and Lively re-injuring themselves — is the most logical path for Dallas to take for the remainder of ’24/25.

Here’s more from Stein:

Although the Mavericks have been “repeatedly described” as a possible suitor for Suns forward Kevin Durant, both before and after last month’s trade deadline, Stein hears Dallas’ interest in Durant has been “overstated.” The Mavs’ depth would take a major blow if they try to trade for Durant, Stein notes, and they also lack future draft capital, which is why focusing on landing a lottery pick in June’s draft makes sense. Retaining Irving, who holds a $44MM player option for ’25/26, is a “priority” for Dallas, per Stein.
When asked by Stein how strange it was to play in Dallas knowing that the Mavericks traded away Luka Doncic, Suns guard Devin Booker replied, “You can feel it. You can feel it when you land.”
Scouts and executives from around the NBA are very curious what the future holds for Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, according to Stein. Before — and even during — the season, many around the league believed the two sides were destined to part ways, but Portland’s improved play has observers wondering if the team will exercise its option on Billups or perhaps give him a new contract. If the Blazers decide not to retain Billups, he would become an “in-demand coaching free agent,” Stein writes.
Hawks head coach Quin Snyder, Wizards assistant Adam Caporn, former Germany head coach Gordon Herbert, and veteran NBA assistant Will Weaver are among the the candidates to be named the next head coach of Australia’s national team, according to Stein. The Boomers finished in sixth place at the 2024 Olympics in Paris after claiming their first medal in men’s basketball — a bronze — in Tokyo.

Lakers Notes: James’ Injury, Road Trip, Doncic, Hayes

March 9th, 2025 at 7:12pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Lakers know that LeBron James won’t be able to play for at least a week, and probably longer than that, due to a groin strain. How will they survive the upcoming stretch of games without him?

“I think we just have to continue to play hard and play defense,” coach JJ Redick said, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

The Lakers have been the No. 1 ranked defense in the league since mid-January. They’re confident they can collects wins despite the future Hall of Famer’s absence.

“We’ve had many situations where a player deals with some type of injury or a trade or whatever it is, and we’ve done a really good job of bouncing back,” guard Austin Reaves said. “And I don’t expect anything else. It’s a next-man-up mentality. Not one person’s gonna do what LeBron does for us. But you can do it as a collective. And … hopefully, he gets back out on the court soon.”

As Buha notes, the Lakers have a rugged stretch of games upcoming. They’ll play in Brooklyn on Monday, then finish their road trip by playing in Milwaukee on Thursday and Denver on Friday. They also have a pair of home back-to-backs (four games in five days) against Phoenix/San Antonio and Denver and Milwaukee within the next two weeks.

We have more on the Lakers:

James believes that being at full strength for the postseason supersedes anything else at this point, Buha relays. “We can compete versus anyone in this league,” James said. “So, we’ll be fine. We got to continue to build our habits. … We made an acquisition late in the season, and we’re still trying to build. And we want to get full. That’s the No. 1 objective for us: How we can get full and get all our guys together and see exactly what we look like.”
James and Rui Hachimura (knee) are among the players listed as out for the matchup with the Nets, Khobi Price of the Orange County Register tweets. Luka Doncic (back soreness) and Jaxson Hayes (right knee contusion} are listed as questionable.
Hachimura, who has missed five consecutive games, is making progress from the patellar tendinopathy affecting his left knee. Get the details here.

Lakers Notes: Hachimura, Hayes, Doncic, Redick

March 9th, 2025 at 9:39am CST by Luke Adams

Lakers forward Rui Hachimura missed a fifth consecutive game on Saturday due to patellar tendinopathy affecting his left knee, but he’s doing “well,” according to head coach J.J. Redick, who told reporters that Hachimura is going through the return-to-play process and doing more on-court work (Twitter link via Khobi Price of the Southern California News Group).

The plan, Redick added on Saturday, is for Hachimura to be reevaluated in about a week.

Meanwhile, the Lakers were also without center Jaxson Hayes on Saturday, which is a more significant loss than it would have been earlier in the season. Hayes had been Los Angeles’ starting center for each of the team’s past 16 games following Anthony Davis‘ injury and the subsequent trade sending him to Dallas.

Hayes, who was listed as out due to a right knee contusion, was replaced by forward Jarred Vanderbilt in the starting five. Redick said the club has been monitoring swelling in Hayes’ knee, but added that he doesn’t believe the injury is “anything serious” and conveyed optimism that the big man’s absence won’t last too long, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link).

Here’s more on the Lakers:

Luka Doncic was shocked when he first learned of the trade sending him from Dallas to Los Angeles, but after over a month with the Lakers, he’s feeling more comfortable in his new NBA home, having recently moved into a leased house in L.A., according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter video link). “He’s felt more and more appreciative and comfortable with how the Lakers have surrounded him with support, with inclusion in the process of everything,” Charania said on NBA Countdown. “This has been a true partnership that they’re trying to develop, and that means a lot for his long-term future for the Lakers.” Doncic will be extension-eligible this offseason and the Lakers are expected to offer him a maximum-salary deal at that time.
The Lakers’ trade for Doncic earned the organization the Alpha Award for Transaction of the Year at this year’s Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, tweets McMenamin. As McMenamin points out, the Celtics won that award a year ago for their acquisition of Kristaps Porzingis.
In an interesting article for The Athletic, Jovan Buha takes a look at the connections between Redick and Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, who offered Redick a spot as an assistant on his staff on Boston before his first year at the helm in September 2022, then again in March 2023. Redick wasn’t ready at that time to get into coaching, but he made it clear there’s significant mutual respect between him and Mazzulla. “When I was going through this process, he, along with a few other coaches in the NBA, were really helpful,” Redick said. “Not just in preparing for an interview, but just really helping me understand what this was and what it required.”
In case you missed it late on Saturday night, LeBron James is being evaluated after sustaining a groin injury in Saturday’s loss to Boston.

Lakers Notes: Vincent, Luka, LeBron, Reaves, Jemison

March 7th, 2025 at 11:33am CST by Rory Maher

The Lakers rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit before ultimately prevailing in overtime during Thursday’s victory over the Knicks. Los Angeles has now won eight straight and 20 of its past 24 games.

As Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes, while Luka Doncic and LeBron James each recorded 30-point double-doubles, both superstars credited the team’s supporting cast for the comeback victory. Gabe Vincent, who was limited to just 11 games last season due to a knee injury, made three three-pointers late in the fourth quarter. Doncic said those timely shots “won the game.”

“It’s part of why I’m here,” Vincent said. “Part of why I’m here is what I’ve done at those moments late in the season. So just try and take the experience I’ve had and built and just try to continue to keep up with winning games.”

The Lakers also received important contributions from rookie forward Dalton Knecht (11 points, four rebounds), starting center Jaxson Hayes (eight points, five rebounds, three assists, two blocks) and backup center Trey Jemison (seven points, four rebounds), McMenamin notes.

“There’s no such thing as non-key players on this team,” James said. “Everybody is key. And everybody who steps on the floor has a role and they go in and match that. And I thought our bench gave us a great lift once again and Gabe was — I’ll single him out — he was spectacular. His play both on the defensive end and obviously his shooting, we needed it.”

Here’s more on the Lakers:

Jovan Buha and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic share their takeaways from Thursday’s matchup between the Lakers and Knicks. As we relayed in another story, the biggest news from the game was Knicks star Jalen Brunson suffering a right ankle injury in overtime.
He struggled in the game, going just 2-of-13 from the field in 32 minutes, but it was a positive development that Austin Reaves was able to return from a right calf strain, per Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group. Reaves had missed the past two contests with the injury. “The imaging we got kind of relieved any fears we had,” head coach JJ Redick said before Thursday’s game. “It’s just been more about him feeling comfortable and ready to play. He’s just had an overall great season. He’s been solid – more than solid. He’s been really good through each iteration of this team this season. And I think the more time that him, Bron and Luka could just all be on the court together and get comfortable is good for us going into this home stretch.”
Although it’s largely a coincidence, since they happened to sign him right when their hot streak began, the Lakers have yet to lose a game in which Jemison has appeared for them in 2024/25, tweets Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. Jemison, who is on a two-way contract, is a candidate to be promoted to the standard roster, as two-way players aren’t eligible for the postseason. The Lakers are now 13-0 when Jemison plays.

Mark Cuban On Luka Doncic Trade: “Get A Better Deal”

March 7th, 2025 at 9:49am CST by Rory Maher

In an exclusive interview with WFFA’s Jonah Javad on Thursday evening (YouTube link), former Mavericks majority owner — and current minority stakeholder — Mark Cuban broke his silence about the shocking decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Lakers.

The full deal saw the Mavericks send Doncic, Markieff Morris and Maxi Kleber to the Lakers, with the Mavericks acquiring Anthony Davis, Max Christie and the Lakers’ 2029 first-round pick. Utah was also involved, receiving a couple of second-round picks (one from L.A., one from Dallas) for taking on the salary of Jalen Hood-Schifino, who was later waived (he is now on a two-way deal with Philadelphia).

Was Cuban upset about the trade?

“Yeah, of course. … If the Mavs are going to trade Luka, that’s one thing. Just get a better deal. … I still firmly believe if we had gotten four unprotected number ones and Anthony Davis and Max Christie, this would be a different conversation.”

Would he have made the trade?

“I’m not going to go there. It doesn’t even matter.”

Cuban confirmed he did not have advanced knowledge of the deal, which has been previously reported.

“I knew five minutes at the most before (it was reported). … From a basketball perspective, you know, I hear about it after the fact, I don’t hear about anything beforehand.”

Is it difficult for him to be out of the loop when he was used to being actively involved in front office decisions?

“Yeah, there are parts that aren’t fun, obviously. Especially this month, or last month. But, you know, they paid for that right.”

Does he regret selling his majority stake in the Mavs?

“Sometimes I get mad (and think) ‘I would have done this.’ But, not really. … I didn’t want my kids to end up in this exact position, at some level, if they made a mistake. Imagine if I didn’t [sell], and my kids had taken over and they made a mistake like this.”

On the team’s struggle to communicate with fans in the aftermath of the trade:

“I think the biggest challenge that the Mavs have right now is there’s nobody who’s really outgoing to communicate. It’s not so much what you do, it’s how you communicate why you do what you do — and that’s their challenge without me in front.”

Has he been consulted by GM Nico Harrison or governor Patrick Dumont since the trade was completed?

“I have not talked to Nico about it. I said hi to Nico twice after the trade.”

The full video interview can be found here, while more transcript highlights can be found on WFFA’s website.

Lakers Notes: Doncic, LeBron, Reaves, Buss, Davis

March 5th, 2025 at 9:53pm CST by Arthur Hill

Luka Doncic‘s elite play-making skills can take time to get used to, writes Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Doncic has brought a new dynamic to the Lakers‘ offense since being acquired from Dallas last month, but it took a while for his new teammates to adjust to the unexpected passes he sometimes delivers.

“There’s a non-cadence to the way Luka plays, if that makes sense,” coach J.J. Redick explained. “A lot of offensive players have pre-programmed reads. He just does [expletive] that you’re like, ‘What, why did you do that?’ There was a blitz against our bench in the second half. Could have made one read, could have made another read, made the read that I would have picked last and we ended up getting the layup on it.”

The Lakers have scored 122.8 points per 100 possessions over their last three games as the team gets more comfortable with Doncic in charge of the offense. The biggest beneficiary has been LeBron James, who has averaged a team-high 27.2 PPG in the 10 games he has played alongside Doncic.

“In order for us to be the team ultimately we need to be, the ball needs to be in Luka’s hands,” James said. “And then when Luka sits down, the ball can be in my hands or be (Austin Reaves’) hands when he gets back. But I’m very comfortable playing off the ball and finding my spots, running the floor, getting the outlet pass from Luka, being on the backside of the defense if he’s either being blitzed in pick-and-rolls or switched in pick-and-rolls. He attracts so many eyes and bodies. I’ve been very blessed to be able to be adaptable to whatever team I’ve been on throughout my career, to be able to change. And this is another instance and I’m looking forward to that.”

There’s more on the Lakers:

James reached another career milestone Tuesday night, becoming the first player in league history to score 50,000 combined points in the regular season and playoffs, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. James accomplished the feat on his first shot of the night and went on to score 34 points in a victory over New Orleans. “It’s a hell of a lot of points, and I’m super blessed to be able to put that many points up in the best league in the world with the best players in the world over my career,” James said in a post-game interview with Spectrum SportsNet. “It’s pretty special.”
Reaves is listed as probable for Thursday’s matchup with New York after missing the last two games with a right calf strain, McMenamin tweets. After leaving Friday’s game early due to the injury, Reaves underwent an MRI on Saturday that didn’t reveal any serious damage.
In a discussion of the Doncic trade during an NPR interview, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss referenced Anthony Davis‘ distaste for playing center and the team’s recent playoff frustrations as reasons for the deal. “We gave up a lot to get Luka Doncic. We’re happy we have him,” Buss said. “We have lost the last three years in a row to the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs, and we really didn’t have anything that was going to look different going into the playoffs again. Anthony Davis was complaining about where he was being played and he wasn’t happy. So I think this was a positive for both teams. They got what they were looking for; we got what we were looking for. And I didn’t realize it was going to be international news like it was, but that’s the power of the Laker brand and its ability to draw big names who want to write their own chapter in Lakers history.”

Lakers Notes: Doncic, Redick, Goodwin, Jemison, Reddish, Len

March 4th, 2025 at 7:52am CST by Luke Adams

Facing the Clippers on Friday and Sunday for the first times since his Mavericks eliminated them from the playoffs last spring, Luka Doncic picked up right where he left off, leading the Lakers to a pair of hard-fought victories over their Los Angeles rivals.

Doncic scored 31 points in Friday’s win, then put up 29 points, nine assists, and six rebounds on Sunday. In that second victory, the Lakers were a +19 in his 37 minutes on the court and were outscored by 13 points in the 11 minutes he didn’t play. Head coach J.J. Redick loved what he saw from his newest star, as Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times writes.

“It just seemed like throughout the game, when we needed a bucket, when we needed him to draw a second, third defender at times, he was able to make the right play — minus the six turnovers. But he played fantastic,” Redick said after Sunday’s win. “And again, it was that verve and that spirit of competition. But also just something that is — maybe it’s an inner demon, I don’t know — but it comes out and it’s fantastic for us when it does.”

The Lakers’ defense has been a revelation during their recent hot streak — the team ranks first in the NBA with a 107.5 defensive rating since January 15 and has won 18 of 22 games during that time. But Doncic’s recent play has shown just how dangerous the team can be an offense as well.

“You’ve got a guy in your corner going Super Saiyan, for lack of a better word,” Lakers guard Gabe Vincent said. “And making great plays, hitting shots, it’s a lot of fun. It can give us a lot of life and we’ve been creating a lot of energy on the defensive side. And when he gets hot offensively, we feel like we can’t be stopped in that regard.”

Here’s more on the Lakers:

Doncic briefly left Sunday’s game after being kneed in the right knee, explaining after the game that he has taken multiple shots to that area within the past week. “Third straight game, the same spot,” he said (Twitter link via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin). “So, I was kind of struggling on that right leg. But I’m good.”
Only two teams in the NBA – the Cavaliers and Thunder – have a better home record than the Lakers’ 23-7 mark, which is why it’s encouraging that they’ve climbed into the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, writes Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times. If they hold that spot, they’d have home-court advantage for at least the first two rounds of the postseason. After Sunday’s win, Doncic referred to the atmosphere inside of Crypto.com Arena as “unbelievable.”
In a separate column for The L.A. Times, Hernandez writes that Redick has been everything the Lakers could have hoped for when they hired him as a first-time head coach. The Lakers players are buying what Redick is selling, according to Hernandez, who says the new coach has successfully instilled a positive culture and identity more effectively than any of his recent predecessors.
Cap expert Eric Pincus breaks down the Lakers’ options for promoting Jordan Goodwin and Trey Jemison from their two-way contracts to the standard roster, noting that giving them standard deals will be necessary if the team wants to have the duo available for the playoffs. While Cam Reddish seems likely to be the odd man out if just one of the two is promoted, it’s unclear who else might be waived if the Lakers want to elevate both — Pincus suggests recently signed center Alex Len, who struggled in limited minutes and quickly dropped out of the rotation, could be a release candidate.
Pincus also points out that the Lakers wouldn’t be able to sign a new two-way player to replace Goodwin or Jemison unless a promotion occurs today, since March 4 is the deadline for two-way signings.

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