LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach JJ Redick made clear last week that seeding was out the window. His mindset was more than understandable.
The Lakers had lost Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves to expectation-shattering injuries, were about to suffer the second of heavy-handed defeats to the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder and were just trying to figure out who they were heading into the playoffs.
Self-exploration, a journey that included Luke Kennard evolving into the team’s primary ball handler and the Lakers shuffling their roster once more before the regular season’s conclusion, was certainly more top of mind compared to the who, when and where of the playoffs. Game 82 put an end to that path with the Lakers’ 131-107 victory over the Utah Jazz (22-60).
The Lakers (53-29) finished as the fourth seed in the Western Conference as the Denver Nuggets defeated the San Antonio Spurs, 128-118, to secure the No. 3 seed. Sunday’s results mean the Lakers will host the fifth-seeded Houston Rockets in a best-of-seven first-round series, with Game 1 scheduled for Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers beat the Rockets twice in a three-day stretch in Houston last month, but Doncic and Reaves played vital roles in both victories, with the Slovenian star scoring a combined 76 points in the pair of victories.
Redick said before Sunday’s game that the Lakers were just going to control their end of the bargain with the third seed still up for grabs at tip-off. It didn’t matter to Redick who they were going to play in the playoffs. There was “no easy matchup,” he said.
“We knew the reality, whether we got three, four, five, six, whatever it was, there’s no easy matchup,” Redick said. “Houston’s obviously a really, really good basketball team, and we’re going to prepare, and we’re going to fight and we’re going to go try to win a series.”
Sunday, the Lakers played like fate was in their hands alone. LeBron James capped his 23rd NBA regular season by scoring 18 points in 17 minutes – opting to play in the regular-season finale despite the Lakers having secured home-court advantage for the first round – before exiting at halftime alongside Kennard (three points in 11 minutes).
“(James) had not a good season, not a great (season), he had a remarkable season, all things considered,” Redick said of James, who played in 60 of 82 games.
Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton each posted 22-point, 10-rebound double-doubles, with Hachimura shooting 8 for 12 from the field and Ayton going 10 for 14 on the way to his highest point total since he had 23 in a March 12 game against the Chicago Bulls. Hachimura said team chemistry helped the Lakers through their 82-game roller-coaster season, adding that it was a driving factor during the final week of the regular season.
“At the end of the day, we know what our goal is and I think we fought through these last three, four games and we got what we wanted,” Hachimura said. “We got to keep rolling.”
When forward Jake LaRavia checked in during the first quarter on Sunday, he became the only Laker player to appear in all 82 regular-season games this year.
“It was probably my biggest goal at the beginning of the season, just kind of how the first three seasons went,” LaRavia said. “Like, I just wanted to have a healthy, consistent, reliable year and I was able to make that happen. So, I’m very excited about that.”
Redick added that he was proud of LaRavia on a personal level, mentioning his high-intensity defensive effort and consistency across the season.
“To play 82 games, particularly now, is a huge accomplishment,” said Redick, who accomplished the feat once during his 15-season NBA career.
Nick Smith Jr., the 21-year-old guard who had his contract converted from a two-way deal into a standard two-year deal on Sunday to become playoff-eligible, scored 12 points in 18 minutes off the bench. Smith, a former first-round draft pick in 2023, could provide the Lakers with an extra ball handler off the bench to spell Marcus Smart and Kennard with Doncic (hamstring) and Reaves (oblique) almost certainly out for the start of the postseason.
Bronny James also played well in an increased role off the bench. Mostly playing in the fourth quarter, the reserve guard shot 3 for 4 from 3-point range en route to 11 points in 19 minutes – his third double-digit scoring game in the past six.
Second-year guard Dalton Knecht, whose playing time has reduced dramatically compared to his rookie campaign, scored a season-high 17 points (5-for-6 shooting from 3-point range) in the fourth quarter alone. It was the first time in 2026 that Knecht scored in double figures.
NOTES
Smart had five points and 10 assists in 26 minutes in his second game back from a nine-game injury absence. … The Lakers finished with their most victories in a season since the 2010-11 campaign (57). … Oscar Tshiebwe had 29 points and 17 rebounds to pace the Jazz, who have lost 60 games in consecutive seasons after dropping a franchise-record 65 in 2024-25. … Hayden Gray, a San Diego native who played collegiately at Azusa Pacific University and UC San Diego, made his NBA debut for the Jazz and scored six points on 2-for-3 shooting in 25 minutes.
