Lakers show signs that they’re turning into a playoff team

Hey everyone, it’s Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times, welcome to this week’s Lakers newsletter, the free, weekly check-in on the world’s greatest in-season tournament team ever assembled! Check the records. They’re clear about this.

This week, let’s take a quick look back at wins over the Washington Wizards and the Clippers as well as a look ahead at the biggest stretch of the Lakers season (since the last biggest stretch of the Lakers season).

The highest gear

As the Lakers enter March, coming off a month in which they won nine games against just three losses, it’s probably time to make some firm proclamations about who this team is and what it can be.

“Obviously I’m not necessarily the best analyst of everything that’s going on. I’ve only been here for a couple weeks,” Spencer Dinwiddie said Thursday. “But, you know, it’s pretty evident that we have the talent level to beat anybody any night.”

Dinwiddie is probably right — and this week reaffirmed that position.

The Lakers played three sleepless quarters against the Clippers before LeBron James and an engaged defense pulled off a miracle comeback. And against Washington a night later, during a game when even the Laker Girls were yawning, they found the plays needed to avoid a potential disaster and earn a second consecutive win.

It reminded me of what Rui Hachimura said about the Lakers — that this group feels best suited for big games. Wednesday, when they played one against the Clippers (who, to be fair, were missing starters Paul George and Ivica Zubac), they authored stretches when they looked every bit the contender as their opponent.

We saw it against Phoenix earlier this season, and against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors. Add in a role-player led upset in Boston, when James and Anthony Davis sat out, and the Lakers have shown that they have plenty of pop on their fastball.

There’s a sense in and around the Lakers that the team is better suited for the rhythms and the stakes of the playoffs than nights like Thursday, when you host a nine-win team on the second night of back-to-back games.

Lakers forward Anthony Davis scores inside against Wizards forward Deni Avdija during the first quarter Thursday at Crypto.com Arena.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Trouble is, the big games are gonna start piling up quick.

While they’re on the road just once in their next 10, nine of those games are against teams with winning records.

And it begins Saturday with Denver, a team the Lakers haven’t’ beaten since Dec. 16, 2022, when Thomas Bryant and Russell Westbrook chipped in for 36 points off the bench. Counting the playoffs, it’s been seven straight losses since then.

“Obviously, they’ve had our number for a while, but I don’t think we look at it as we’ve gotta beat them for our own personal morale or something like that,” Davis said. “We just wanna get a win and kind of keep this going knowing the position that we’re trying to climb up the ladder. So, I mean, we haven’t talked about it, but I think overall, just getting a win, to keep this going, will be helpful for us. And then in the midst of that, beating them will definitely feel good.”

To do it Saturday, and consistently over the next few weeks, it’ll take longer stretches of engagement than they showed Thursday (and Wednesday too). But, coach Darvin Ham said, the most important part is that they’ve shown it.

“It’s there. That’s the only, I wouldn’t even call it a concern. That’s the only issue, you know, it’s like how can we make last night’s fourth quarter, tonight’s overtime more consistent?” Ham said after the Wizards win. “No one is gonna play lockdown defense for 48 minutes. Players, teams are too good in this league. So you have to make timely stops, but you also have to have long durations of activity, alertness, doing your work early, really that laser focus on that side of the ball. Because the truth be told is that side of the ball, when you’re really good on that side of the ball consistently, then it frees up a lot for your offense.”

Dipped and dotted

Before a game in the build to the All-Star break, I noticed Lakers developmental coach Micah Fraction firing passes to D’Angelo Russell at all sorts of angles. Some would be to his feet, some would be over his head.

Like a pitcher with no feel for the strike zone, Fraction fired the ball all over the place — but with a purpose.

It was to get Russell ready for shots like the one he made late against the Clippers, when he immediately shot from the position he caught the pass from James.

“Just skill,” he said after the shot. “I work on it. It’s the first year I’ve had to work on things like that, being around one of the best players ever, LeBron. He throws some of the passes you’re not expecting, they get there, it might not be the best pass every time, but they get there.

“For me, I try to practice with Micah and those guys on ways to try and prepare myself for those passes. It’s working.”

Where there’s a Bill, there’s a way

Thanks to the Oregonian’s Bill Oram for filling in this week on the “Times Lakers Show” on YouTube. The former Athletic writer and I spoke about the differences in covering Lakers and Clippers games with the Hallways Series ending this week (pending a possible playoff meeting).

Song of the week

“Both Sides Now” by Neil Diamond

Joni Mitchell’s incredible performance at the Grammys of this song sent me down a rabbit hole of all the wonderful cover versions. I think I’ve landed on this as my favorite — the orchestra backing Neil’s iconic pipes. When you write something as good as this song, it probably doesn’t matter who performs it. But this version (not counting when Joni does it herself) works best for me.

In case you missed it

Anthony Davis and Lakers outlast Wizards for back-to-back overtime wins

LeBron James rallies Lakers from 21 down in the fourth to stun the Clippers

Hernández: When LeBron James plays in ‘sicko mode,’ flawed Lakers always have a chance

The Lakers and Clippers are ready to share their home for the final time

LeBron James a month after saying Bronny could play for Lakers right now: ‘Let the kid be a kid’

Lakers can’t match the Suns at the finish in loss on the road

LeBron James and Lakers wowed by Victor Wembanyama, but their coach is frustrated in win