LOS ANGELES — The end of the regular season could have been truly solemn.
The Lakers had lost three straight games, with emotions running high as they played without 80% of their preferred starting lineup in another lopsided defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Coach JJ Redick even took individual meetings with forwards Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt, later succumbing to the idea that leaning on emotion rather than togetherness in the face of adversity wasn’t the right way to rally his troops.
“The talent and skill matter, but it’s all the nature of human beings and participating in a group and working together,” Redick said Friday when asked about the human factor of basketball. “It’s emotional regulation. Mental toughness. Like that’s what this is at this level. It’s why some players can’t get beyond their rookie contract. It’s not necessarily ’cause of talent or skill.”
Over the final three games of the regular season, albeit against weakened opposing lineups (the Golden State Warriors without Steph Curry, the Phoenix Suns without Devin Booker, and the tanking Utah Jazz), the fourth-seeded Lakers (53-29) still showcased a sense of resiliency despite being shorthanded. Redick reiterated after a 131-107 victory over the Jazz in Sunday’s finale, that the “task at hand” includes assembling a game plan to attack the fifth-seeded Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs.
But the task also includes extending the season long enough for one or both of Doncic – the first Laker to lead the league in scoring average (33.5 points per game) since Kobe Bryant in 2006-07 – and Reaves to give themselves a real chance at a potential matchup with top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round.
The return of veteran guard Marcus Smart has been a help.
After missing nine consecutive games with a right ankle contusion, antsy watching the Lakers’ season nosedive into a new reality, Smart appeared in the final two games of the regular season. He joined a starting lineup alongside LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Deandre Ayton and Luke Kennard – the likely starting five the Lakers will use when the first round gets underway on Saturday night.
Maybe Ayton, who crooned the The Five Stairsteps’ 1970-hit, “O-o-h Child” while exiting the locker room on Tuesday, was right.
“Ooh child,” Ayton sang. “Things are gonna get easier.”
With Smart, maybe things are going to get easier – at least when it comes to arranging rotational strategy against a physical Rockets team. Ayton said Smart deserved leadership credit, alongside James, for keeping the Lakers focused on the goals in front of them, even as the opaque future of their playoff fate nears.
“Bron’s not the only one out there talking – Marcus was adding his words of wisdom as well,” said Ayton, who closed the regular season with a 22-point showing. “And it’s just always him just always on it, always talking and just always giving us his two cents of what he sees, whether he’s on the bench or on the court with us. He gives that comfortability and puts teams on the edge.”
Since returning Friday, Smart totaled 17 assists in two games despite being on a minutes restriction, a reminder to Redick, he said, of why they targeted the savvy veteran in free agency to begin with. Even after his nine-season stint with the Boston Celtics, Redick said, Smart had “graded out” as a solid secondary playmaker despite playing-time constraints with the Memphis Grizzlies and Washington Wizards.
Now, the Lakers need him and Luke Kennard, to prop up their teammates heading into the postseason.
Smart said that he has a “things happens for a reason” mindset. The 32-year-old, the third-oldest player on the roster, said the Lakers are where they are supposed to be – and that it’s time to continue the “war,” even without Doncic and Reaves.
“All season, people have counted us out, and all season we have continued to show why we belong here and that we really don’t care what people say and that’s us,” Smart said. “That’s who we are and I think it shows with our two guys down and the way we finished the season and the miles we had going into the playoffs.”
The Lakers aren’t expecting Smart to be Reaves or Doncic (who combine to average nearly 60 ppg).
“They are expecting me to go out there and be Marcus,” Smart said. “And do what I do.”
