Lakers highlights: What we learned from the team’s five-game road trip

The Lakers ended a bumpy road trip on a high note with back-to-back wins at New Orleans and Milwaukee, rallying to a 3-2 road record after a 119-95 win over the Bucks on Saturday. The only thing that seemed to excite the players more than the victory was what awaited them after the nine-day trip.

“Let’s go home,” forward Jake LaRavia posted on his Instagram Story.

Announcement

Here are five highlights after the five-game road trip:

The Lakers regain their magic

Deandre Ayton took credit for the Frank Sinatra soundtrack in the postgame locker room, but JJ Redick had Jay-Z in mind. After wrapping up a grueling road trip, one of Redick’s first thoughts was the Jay-Z song “A Week Ago,” which begins with the lyrics: “Everything was fine just a week ago.”

A week ago, the Lakers were 7-2. They were riding the peak of a five-game winning streak while training in Atlanta.

Then things got bad.

The Lakers (10-4) were eliminated against Atlanta and Oklahoma City on this trip. They played about a good half of the basketball in the first three games. But during the most challenging part of the stretch, the Lakers rallied to find themselves with crucial victories against the Pelicans and Bucks.

Announcement

Read more: Luka Doncic scores 41 goals as Lakers defeat Milwaukee Bucks to win road game 3-2

“This is the NBA,” Redick told reporters. “And you have to find moments to recapture what makes you a good basketball team. And I think we’ve done that in the last 24 hours.”

Redick credited Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves for continuing to lead the team through rough waters on Saturday. Even though the team arrived in Milwaukee at 3 a.m. Saturday and Doncic played 40 minutes the night before in New Orleans, the superstar guard was still diving to the floor for a loose ball in the second quarter. He pushed the ball forward to Reaves, who found Ayton for a layup.

As Doncic becomes more comfortable with his teammates, his leadership has manifested itself not only through his play but also through his sarcastic personality, which has helped develop a strong bond.

Announcement

“There’s a great understanding,” Doncic told reporters. “When I first got here, I was probably a little quieter, trying to get to know people. But right now, I’m just being myself, just joking around a lot and talking trashy. So I think one of the most important things for a winning team is to have great chemistry, and I think we have that.”

Doncic’s MVP campaign continues

With 41 points, nine rebounds and six assists against Milwaukee, Doncic collected his fourth 40-point game this season, matching his total in similar games last year.

He leads the league with 34.4 points per game and officially became eligible for the league after playing his 10th game on Saturday. His points and 8.9 rebounds per game are close to his production in 2023-24, when he led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals and finished third in most valuable players with 33.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. He’s doing so despite shooting 32.7 percent from three-point range, his worst showing since his sophomore season.

Announcement

Reinforcements are on the way

LeBron James is expected to return to practice with the Lakers on Monday after a productive tryout with the South Bay Lakers. He could make his season debut as early as Tuesday against the Utah Jazz Crypto.com Arena in the Lakers’ only game this week.

James is the only player on a standard contract still waiting to make his debut after the Lakers brought back forwards Maxi Kleber and Adou Thiero on the trip. Kleber, unavailable with an abdominal strain, played three games. He made his first shot of the season in the win against Milwaukee, playing 25 minutes with three points and three assists.

Announcement

Rookie Thiero also made his debut against the Bucks, scoring four points and punctuating his first NBA appearance with an emphatic two-handed dunk in the final minute. He showed the kind of athleticism and activity the Lakers were looking for when they drafted him in the second round. He also grabbed an offensive rebound during the first half that led to Kleber’s 3-pointer.

Guard Gabe Vincent (ankle) is still out and has been nearly three weeks since he sprained his ankle against the Sacramento Kings. The original timetable for his return was two to four weeks.

Collapses in shooting

Vincent’s eventual return could help the Lakers with one of their most glaring offensive deficiencies: three-point shooting.

Announcement

The Lakers rank 25th in three-point shooting at just 33.8%. Their 32.4 three-point attempts per game ranks 26th in the league. That’s a far cry from the 40.4 threes attempted in games after Doncic joined the team last year.

Part of the drop in shooting may be due to Reaves’ early struggles from three-point range. Outside of his six-of-10 points that led to 51 points against Sacramento, Reaves, who missed three games with a groin injury, shot 26.4 percent from three this season.

He then caught fire in the second half against the Bucks, making five 3-pointers. While he finished with 25 points and eight assists, he hit three straight 3-pointers to open the fourth quarter in which Doncic called some of the game’s biggest shots.

“It was nice to have something to do,” Reaves told reporters. “…Hopefully we continue to shoot the ball well.”

Announcement

Increase the pace

The Lakers are second to last in transition possession percentage per game and transition possession percentage. Redick was perplexed as to why the team was playing so slowly when asked about its pace before the Charlotte game. He said pacing is “literally the first thing we emphasize in every film session.”

But on the second night of a back-to-back, Redick acknowledged that the team, considering its personnel, simply wasn’t going to be a fast team. However, he still identified indicators of success. Before Saturday’s game, Redick told players the team was 9-1 when scoring 12 or more transition points and 8-0 with 24 or more assists.

Announcement

“I think there’s a formula here to throw the ball forward and share the basketball,” Redick said. “And tonight they were good with that again.”

The Lakers had 12 quick break points and 23 assists against the Bucks.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter on all things Lakers.

This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.