As recently as March 8, the Los Angeles Lakers were sitting in sixth place and in danger of getting dragged into the chaos of the Western Conference playoff race. Now, they have won eight straight games, improved to 45–25, and climbed to third in the West with just 12 games left on their regular season schedule.
They are still 10 games behind the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder and seven behind the second-place San Antonio Spurs, making a climb into the top two unlikely.
However, the Lakers’ hold on third is growing stronger, especially after a pair of convincing wins this past week over the fourth-place Houston Rockets. Los Angeles now sits 2.5 games ahead of Houston, and this winning streak has hardly been built on soft competition. The Lakers have also taken down the Miami Heat, New York Knicks, Denver Nuggets, and Minnesota Timberwolves during this run–all of whom are currently in the postseason mix–making it clear that this surge is legitimate.
Of course, Luka Dončić has been at the center of it all.
He has played at an MVP level throughout the season, leading the league in scoring at 33.4 points per game while also averaging 7.9 rebounds, 8.4 assists, and 1.6 steals. He is shooting 47 percent from the field and 37 percent from three while carrying one of the heaviest offensive loads in the NBA. No player in the league is taking more field-goal attempts, 3-point attempts, or free throws per game than Dončić. His free-throw shooting at 77.2 percent still leaves room for improvement, though it is slightly above his career average.
During this winning streak, he has somehow gone up another level. Over the eight-game run, Dončić is averaging 40.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and 2.4 steals. His latest masterpiece came against Miami, when he poured in 60 points on the second night of a back-to-back. At a time when the MVP race appeared to be tilting toward reigning winner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dončić has forced his way back into the discussion with this strong two-week stretch.
The Lakers have also benefited from the return of Austin Reaves, who had missed 19 games with a calf strain. Since coming back, he has been a highly effective second option behind Dončić, averaging 23.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.1 steals during the streak. His ability to attack off the dribble and punish defenses tilted toward Dončić has made Los Angeles far more difficult to guard.
LeBron James has embraced a different role as well. At 41 years old, his willingness to slide into the third option has been a major plus for this team. He remains more than capable of controlling games when needed too, as shown by his second triple-double of the season against Miami, when he finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists.
The Lakers are not as complete or as well-rounded as the reigning champion Thunder, but their offense is humming and their internal hierarchy has finally been ironed out. With Dončić leading the way and strong support from Reaves and James, Los Angeles looks every bit like a team no one will want to face in the playoffs. If they can keep this up, a deep run is no longer difficult to imagine and opponents must respect them as legitimate contenders in the West.
