Lakers hope two-day ‘reset’ will refresh them for final stretch
Two days without a game allowed the Lakers to completely reset as they prepare for the final part of the regular season and the playoffs.
They have eight games remaining, starting with the NBA lottery-bound Washington Wizards at Crypto.com Arena on Monday. The Lakers will play without star guard Luka Doncic as he serves his one-game suspension for reaching the league limit of 16 technical fouls.
The Lakers had a morning practice Sunday and it gave them a chance to make adjustments with a fresh body and mind.
“Yeah, for me, I think, being that they all want to show up at 10 a.m. on a Sunday, I think it’s as much mental, spiritual and emotional,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said after practice. “We didn’t want these guys to be here long today. But we did a lot of things, watched some film and cleaned some things up. But it’s still these two days for us. It’s a great reset for us.”
Doncic committed his 16th technical foul of the season Friday night in a win over the Brooklyn Nets after a trade with Ziaire Williams, when both were subjected to double technical fouls in the third quarter of that game.
For Doncic, who earns $45.9 million per season, the suspension will cost him approximately $264,000.
If he commits two more technical fouls by the end of the regular season, he will be automatically suspended for one additional game.
Doncic is eligible to return for the Lakers on Tuesday night when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I mean, he’s disappointed,” Redick said of Doncic. “He wants to be there for his teammates, and again, I’ve talked about it all year, like he’s playing. He’s not a guy that takes games away. He can be banged up and he’s going to play. He was like that when I was his teammate in Dallas. For tomorrow, we had, I think, some nice contributions from guys that weren’t necessarily in the nine-man rotation when we were fully healthy.”
Redick explained how Bronny James, Jared Vanderbilt and Maxi Kleber all had “great times” when they were called into office.
And with Doncic out, Redick said it will take a group effort to beat the Wizards.
“But we’re going to need everyone tomorrow,” Redick said.
The Wizards have the third-worst record in the NBA at 17-56. They are second to last in the league in points allowed, allowing 124 per game.
Still, it’s all about the Lakers and how they prepare for the playoffs in the final games of the season.
Half of the eight games are against teams with records below .500.
The Lakers will face a Cavaliers team that is pushing for better positioning in the Eastern Conference. They will twice face an Oklahoma City team that has the best record in the league and a Suns team that is 3-1 against the Lakers.
“That’s what I’ve talked about all year, is you need big effort and big execution,” Redick said. “I think the effort part has been there very consistently for weeks now. Sometimes when games pile up and shift and all that, there can be some little details, from an execution standpoint, that can have some slip-ups, and I think for us, especially on the defensive side, we can do some things better. But I mean, look, the last 16 games, we’re where we are because we’ve been really good on both ends.”
Etc.
Redick said guard Marcus Smart (right ankle bruise) and forward Adou Thiero (left knee soreness) are in “this day-to-day camp” with their injuries.
“So we’re just waiting until they feel well enough to go,” Redick said.
