While the Lakers blew out the Clippers 135-118 at home on Tuesday, the game wasn’t always a smooth one for Los Angeles.
As the fourth quarter began, the Lakers were up by just five points. A bad start could’ve derailed this contest and cost the Lakers the NBA cup win, instead, they began the quarter on a 14-4 run.
The Lakers never let up and secured not just the result, but also won their NBA Cup group, advancing to the quarterfinals.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick highlighted the team’s fourth-quarter
start as one of the contributing factors in the win.
“Those guys, I thought that group to start the fourth quarter and then when Jaxson was out there with Luka, that execution offensively was high level,” Redick said. “Jaxson made multiple pocket decisions against the blitz. Every type of read you can make, rim, corner, corner cut, slot, he threw the lob to Rui. So it’s just a high-level game from him.”
Under Redick’s tutelage, the Lakers have been elite at closing out teams. When they’ve been ahead to start the fourth quarter, they’ve won 57 of a possible 61 games across two seasons.
The last time the Lakers were this good in the closing period was the 2019-20 championship team. They went 57-0 in games where they were ahead to start the fourth quarter.
In their game against the Clippers, however, Deandre Ayton was out, and LA needed a big game from Hayes to stay in front.
He delivered, ending the night with eight points, four rebounds and a plus-minus of +21, which was the best on the team. Hayes also had Luka Dončić’s back when he got into a scuffle with Kris Dunn.
This Lakers team is quickly becoming a tough one to beat, and as Tuesday and all of Redick’s tenure have demonstrated, if you are not ahead of them to start the fourth, you are likely toast.
It doesn’t matter if their starting center is out, or if any other rotation players are missing, when they have a chance to finish you, they get it done.
This most recent win is just another example of the Lakers doing just that.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
