LOS ANGELES – The last time the Lakers played at home, they were on cloud nine.
They took down an Eastern Conference contender in the Cavaliers, which concluded an elite month of March basketball where they won 15 of 17 games.
Back in Los Angeles on Tuesday, they looked unrecognizable.
Gone are Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, who will miss the rest of the regular season due to injury. With Marcus Smart and LeBron James also ruled out, the only regular starter playing was Deandre Ayton.
It meant Lakers
head coach JJ Redick had to try things he’s never done before in the final week of the regular season.
He rolled out a new starting unit, one that featured two-way big Drew Timme, who is ineligible for postseason play. Dalton Knecht made an appearance. Adou Thiero saw the most playing time in his career.
Led by that youth and inexperience, the Lakers didn’t stand a chance against the Thunder, losing 123-87 for their third straight loss.
“We’re undermanned right now,” Redick said postgame. “It’s important that everybody is trying to play the right way and play for the team. I think certainly there were several guys that did some good things tonight.”
There’s nothing wrong with seeing good efforts from players like Timme and Thiero, but it’s hard to watch them take on the defending champions when a week ago, Dončić and James were in that position.
Last week, confetti was falling on fans inside Crypto.com Arena in celebration. On Tuesday, those same fans were exiting the building before the fourth quarter even began.
Injuries are no one’s fault, but it’s jarring to watch the Lakers go from superstar guards like Luka to now relying on Luke Kennard and Bronny James to win them games.
As unfair as the path has become for the Lakers, Redick’s goal now is to find players who can help this team win games so they can extend this season long enough to potentially get back Dončić and Reaves.
“We’ve got to find nine guys that are all in on us fighting,” Redick said. “Whatever you got to do to go out and fight and be all in on the team, we’ll find the nine guys. It’s a great opportunity for us over the next three games to find those guys.”
A week ago, the Lakers had those nine players and then some. Now, they’ll likely have to play the rest of the way without the players who got them into this position to begin with.
The good news for Redick and the Lakers is that some of the guys who can help them win likely will be returning. LeBron should be back for at least one of these upcoming contests on Thursday and Friday and Redick mentioned pregame that Smart is trending towards playing this week.
Still, the reality is that the Lakers are not the team they were in March. And now the April schedule is filled with losses and the odds of a postseason run are shrinking by the day.
None of this feels like a reality anyone would have expected a week ago.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
