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“We’ll be ready to play, I promise you.”
That was the prediction Lakers coach Darvin Ham made to the media following Friday morning’s practice in El Segundo. His team is in playoff mode entering Saturday afternoon’s home game against Cleveland (46-31), the team with the third-best record in the East.
“The key thing today was to make the focus about us,” Ham said. “Trying to sustain the stuff we’re doing good and clean up the things we’re not doing well. Of course you look at the trends. You take all of the information you’re provided and come up with different combinations and lineups that are high up in the plus-minus categories.”
On the positive side, the Lakers appear to be playing as well as they have at any stage this season. However, despite winning eight of their last 10 games, they have not gained any ground in the Western Conference playoff race and remain in ninth place with five games left.
Rui Hachimura said one of his friends advised him to be more aggressive and he has taken the message to heart.
“I’m trying to be more engaged and bring the energy,” he said. “I started figuring out my role. Every game is important. We’ll take it one game at a time and try to get all of them.”
The Japanese-born power forward was asked how excited he was when countryman Shohei Ohtani hit his first home run as a Dodger: “I saw it and I was so happy for him. We’re both here in L.A. at the same time playing for historical teams.”
After a nine-day road trip that produced five victories in six contests, the Lakers (44-33) have crept to within half a game of Sacramento (44-32) in the standings and would be tied with the Kings should they lose at Eastern Conference-leading Boston on Friday, though Sacramento holds the tiebreaker, having beaten Los Angeles in all four meetings.
Shooting guard Austin Reaves admitted he does a lot of scoreboard watching, but not merely because the postseason is around the corner.
“I watch games all the time anyway because I’m a fan,” he said. “Obviously, we wanna do the best we can do and be playing our best going into the play-in tournament. I like knowing what needs to happen for us to move up.”
Power forward Anthony Davis recorded 35 points, 18 rebounds and three blocks on Wednesday in a 125-120 victory at Washington. LeBron James has led the team in scoring over the last 10 games, averaging 21.2 points, while D’Angelo Russell has averaged 18.3 points during that stretch.
As dominant as Davis is on offense, Reaves believes he makes his teammates better in more ways on defense.
“Anytime he’s back there protecting the rim with his timing and knowledge of what players like to do, it’s huge,” Reaves said. “The numbers speak for themselves when we don’t have him. He’s always talkin , he’s a coach on the floor, he recognizes where ball screens are coming from and what we can do to slow the other team down.”
Added Hachimura: “AD does little things you don’t see that don’t show up on a stat sheet. It’s good knowing if you make a mistake, he’ll be there. He covers up so many of our mistakes.”
On the injury front, Ham confirmed that Jarred Vanderbilt (foot) will be re-evaluated early next week. He did an individual workout Friday, but did not practice with the team. Fellow forward Christian Wood, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee March 19, is likely to miss the rest of the regular season.
James’ high school coach Keith Dambrot was a guest at Friday’s practice and Ham stated: “It was cool and it was a pleasure to have him in the building.”
While jockeying for better position in the play-in tournament, the Lakers will also have to hold off surging Golden State, which is holding onto the No. 10 spot and began the day one and a half games behind Los Angeles. The Warriors entered Friday’s tip-off at Dallas having won six straight and they face the Lakers for the fourth and final time Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena.
“We’re in the same scenario as last year in that every game is a must-win if you want to move up in the standings,” Reaves said. “I feel good. What do I have left? I’ve got everything I can give until after our last game — then I can relax. You dream of playing in these type of games.”
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