The Los Angeles Lakers have managed to show resiliency on and off the court, extending their winning streak to four straight games.
The Lakers are third in the Western Conference with a 41-25 record, trailing the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs.
Coach JJ Redick credited the team for beginning to understand the importance of playing united during the stretch.
“It goes back to the human element and what they are comfortable doing as basketball players,” Redick said about his players before the Lakers’ 120-106 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.
The team followed up that performance with a 142-130 win against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday and have won seven of its last eight games.
The trio of Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves has led the way for the team – but often not all at the same time.
LeBron James in action against the Bulls on Thursday.
“The human struggle to want what you want while also having the emotional maturity and recognition that you have someone next to you hasn’t been so clean, but losing a training camp and the start of the year (without James), then losing AR for a long stretch, I think we are starting to get it,” Redick said.
“… thats just the nature of it and that’s the nature of every big three that’s played together and we are going to get there and I think we have seen some positive signs. With LeBron, I know he recognizes the importance of having Luka as the engine and all he really wants is to impact winning and I’ve said that now for the past two weeks, but we are going to get there.”
James is dealing with a right hip contusion and left foot arthritis, which caused him to miss the first three games during the streak, leaving Doncic and Reaves to take on a bulk of the workload offensively.
The trio was back on the court together Thursday, with Doncic falling just short of a triple-double performance. Doncic produced 51 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists against the Chicago Bulls.
Doncic received MVP chants in the final minutes of the fourth quarter when heading to the bench.
Doncic also led a strong second-half effort on Tuesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, just hours after a report surfaced regarding his breakup from his fiancée and a potential custody battle. The couple has two children together.
Doncic produced a triple-double with 31 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds against the Timberwolves. He scored 19 of his 31 points in the second half. Reaves also added 31.
Reaves followed that performance up with 30 against the Bulls.
The duo’s scoring ability was not taken lightly by Timberwolves coach Chris Finch, who mentioned before Tuesday’s game that he expected Reaves and Doncic to take on the bulk of the offensive workload while James was out.
With James back on the court for the Lakers on Thursday against the Bulls, he scored 18 points to go along with seven assists and seven rebounds.
What has impressed players such as Doncic the most this week is the team’s defensive performance, which held Minnesota to 45 points in the first half.
“I think we played some of our best basketball games of the season,” Doncic said after the Minnesota game. “It starts on defense. Everybody’s putting in the effort and that’s not easy to do. I think we’re doing it now.”
The Lakers have averaged 41.1 rebounds per game this season, which ranks 26th in the league, but collected 47 against Minnesota.
Lakers center Deandre Ayton led the team in rebounding with 12, to go with his 14 points against the Timberwolves.
“It’s great for his teammates to see him have a really good performance on both ends of the floor,” Redick said. “It’s better for (Ayton) to have a game like that against a really good team, one of the best teams in basketball. … It’s good for his confidence.”
He also had a double-double (23 points and 10 rebounds) against the Bulls.
While the Lakers remain focused on winning a potential playoff run, Doncic and James were among the members to spend time with patients at a UCLA Health medical center.
“You go there, and you realize that you’d really have problems in your life,” Doncic told reporters on Thursday. “Health is the most important thing in your life, so you realize you don’t have problems at all. Just having interactions with them was super amazing and I’m really appreciative for that.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LA Lakers beat Chicago Bulls, peaking before NBA playoffs
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