Breaking down the Lakers’ 10 best wins of the season
Welcome to this week’s on-the-road edition of the Lakers newsletter. I’m Dan Woike, beat writer for the L.A. Times.
The team is red hot right now, nine games over .500 with some favorable matchups the rest of the way.
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The momentum would’ve been there regardless of how the road trip began — the team has been playing pretty good basketball for the last month, but the win against the Bucks in Milwaukee felt like a high point for the team this season.
But was it actually?
This week, we’re going to rank the Lakers’ best wins of the season.
Short-handed, yet never counted out
No. 10
Nov. 1
The Lakers withstood 73 points from Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, got huge minutes from Christian Wood off their bench and beat their crosstown rivals for the first time since The Bubble season.
No. 9
Jan. 15
The Lakers had just lost two straight and it seemed like the heavy home schedule lifeline they were thrown in January wasn’t going to do them much good. But thanks to one of their best defensive games of the season, they held off Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder, keeping them to 41.7% shooting in a true 48-minute performance.
No. 8
Dec. 23
The Lakers stunk when they went to play the Thunder before Christmas. The vibes were rough. Darvin Ham’s job security was in question. Trade rumors were now an everyday thing and the Lakers had just lost four in a row. Winning in Oklahoma City didn’t stop the bleeding — they’d lose five of the next six — but the win, thanks to 40 from LeBron James, was enough for a quick sigh of relief.
No. 7
Nov. 10
The Lakers kicked the in-season tournament off in Phoenix a bit of a wounded team. Ham made his first big lineup switch of the season, bringing Austin Reaves off the bench, and Cam Reddish, who just missed a huge shot in Miami two games before, drilled multiple big threes in the first notable fourth-quarter comeback of the year.
No. 6
Dec. 7
The Lakers haven’t looked more dominant than they did during the in-season tournament semifinals, with James playing one of the most efficient games humanly possible. He made nine of 12 shots including all four of his threes and had five rebounds and eight assists. He scored 30 points. He played less than 23 minutes. The win set the stage for the Lakers’ inaugural in-season tournament championship.
No. 5
March 8
D’Angelo Russell stole the show, the punctuation to a stretch where he stared down trade rumors only to play the best basketball of his NBA career. He scored 44 points, drilled nine threes and hit the eventual game-winner before Spencer Dinwiddie blocked Damian Lillard’s shot at the buzzer.
No. 4
145-144 (2 OT) at Golden State
Jan. 27
A classic James-Stephen Curry duel that James eeked out thanks to a 36-20-12 triple-double. The Lakers came back from 15 down in the second half to withstand 46 points from Curry. One of the best games in the NBA this season.
No. 3
March 26
No LeBron, no problem? Well, it was a problem. The Lakers were getting cooked in Milwaukee, a miserable start forcing them to chase a double-digit deficit throughout the game. The Lakers closed the deficit a couple of times before the Bucks stretched it again, going up 19 in the fourth before the Lakers and Anthony Davis, who hit some massive shots, pulled out the win.
No. 2
Feb. 28
Playing the Clippers in what could end up being the final Hallway Series game, the Lakers trailed by 21 in the fourth before James took over. In the final 12 minutes, he scored 19 points — three more than the Clippers — to ensure the Lakers would win the season series with their roommates at Crypto.com Arena.
No. 1
Feb. 1
The season really felt like it was hanging by a thread. The Lakers had just gotten smacked in their previous two games, with James simply tweeting the hourglass emoji. The Lakers scratched Anthony Davis and James in the build to the game, which was on national TV. And without them, the Lakers put together a wire-to-wire performance led by big games from Reaves and Jarred Vanderbilt, who was terrific before leaving with injury.
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Song of the week
“Big Love” by Camera Obscura
Welcome back to a wonderful Scottish band that is back with new music after suffering the tragic loss of a member in 2015. It’s great airport music, always giving me a little pep as I bounce from terminal to terminal.
In case you missed it
Rui Hachimura is bad luck for Memphis again as Lakers win
Lakers open six-game trip with double-overtime win over the Bucks
Austin Reaves’ confidence never faded as he shot double OT game-winner against Bucks
Anthony Davis and Spencer Dinwiddie help Lakers score 150 points in win over Pacers
Where does Lakers’ 150-point outburst against Pacers rank on all-time franchise list?
Lakers come alive late and overcome their turnover woes in victory over 76ers
10 players the Lakers will be scouting during NCAA tournament
Until next time...
As always, pass along your thoughts to me at daniel.woike@latimes.com, and please consider subscribing if you like our work!
All things Lakers, all the time.
Get all the Lakers news you need in Dan Woike's weekly newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
