{"id":842357,"date":"2025-04-20T21:12:42","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T02:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/20\/with-luka-doncic-out-lebron-james-and-austin-reaves-lead-lakers-past-portland\/"},"modified":"2025-04-20T21:12:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T02:12:42","slug":"with-luka-doncic-out-lebron-james-and-austin-reaves-lead-lakers-past-portland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/20\/with-luka-doncic-out-lebron-james-and-austin-reaves-lead-lakers-past-portland\/","title":{"rendered":"With Luka Doncic out, LeBron James and Austin Reaves lead Lakers past Portland"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PORTLAND, Ore.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/span>The Lakers<\/a> are looking for answers when it comes to maximizing their star trio. For the star duo of LeBron James<\/a> and Austin Reaves<\/a>, things were a little less cluttered Thursday night as the pair took turns dragging the Lakers to a much-needed win after awful back-to-back losses.<\/p>\n

James and Reaves made the biggest shots, got the biggest stops and, on a night when they didn\u2019t have Luka Doncic<\/a>, pushed the Lakers to a 110-102 win<\/a> over the Portland Trail Blazers.<\/p>\n

James scored 40 on the second night of a back-to-back and Reaves added 32, both players also getting key stops as Portland (23-33) pushed in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

The Lakers\u2019 fight to win, particularly from James and Reaves, left coach JJ Redick in awe, pouring praise on his leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe really just defies anything that\u2019s normal. And not just the physical feats and the plays. It\u2019s the mentality,\u201d Redick said about James. \u201cHe\u2019s, I believe I saw the other day, he\u2019s a billionaire. And he\u2019s playing on the second night of a back-to-back at 40 after 22 years with every fricking record and every accolade. … He\u2019s one of the greatest competitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Nate [McMillan, assistant] and I were talking about it before the game. It\u2019s like, he\u2019s amazing to coach. He brings it every single day. … He sets the standard for how you\u2019re supposed to approach this craft. And that\u2019s to me the most incredible thing. It\u2019s just a mindset to do it, get up the next day, do it, get up the next day, do it over and over again.\u201d<\/p>\n

So why not take the night off?<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I still love the game and I still got a lot to give to the game, to give to my teammates, to give to this league for while I\u2019m here,\u201d James said. \u201cI don\u2019t have much time left. So, while I\u2019m here today in this time, I\u2019m going to try to give what I got when I\u2019m out on the floor. So, why? It\u2019s the love of the game and I have an opportunity now to show my son the ranks of how to be a professional in this league. And to be along [with] him every single day, that\u2019s a treat.\u201d<\/p>\n

And in Reaves, Redick has a player who fought constantly against a Portland team that tried to bully him off the ball, sustaining a cut on his shoulder in the process. Reaves made a trio of huge defensive plays in the fourth quarter to help keep the Lakers ahead.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe\u2019s going to give you every ounce of competitive juice that he has every single night,\u201d Redick said. \u201cThat\u2019s really what it comes down to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The version of the Lakers that will finish this season is nowhere close to being decided. They\u2019re stuck between the version that worked its way to 10 games above .500 and the one they committed to when they traded Anthony Davis and Max Christie for Doncic.<\/p>\n

Doncic, who has appeared in three games since Christmas, is expected to play in back-to-backs moving forward, with Redick saying the team is just being cautious in the guard\u2019s return from a calf strain.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpeaking with him Tuesday night after practice, we sat down together. He\u2019s all in,\u201d Redick said of Doncic. \u201cHe\u2019s [over] the mental part of the shock and everything, he\u2019s in a really good place. And now we\u2019ve got to get him physically where he needs to be to be Luka.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doncic and Jarred Vanderbilt are on track to play Saturday in Denver.<\/p>\n

The Lakers (33-21) still are waiting for Doncic to get into some kind of rhythm after his extended absence, though Redick said the team is focused on finding ways for James, Reaves and Doncic to shine together.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all of us. It\u2019s not just the staff. It\u2019s the players too. It\u2019s them and us working together to find the balance to allow our three best players to be at their best,\u201d Redick said. \u201cYou\u2019ve seen this happen a million times in the NBA. It doesn\u2019t happen in three games. It might not happen in three months. That\u2019s just the reality of how these things work. We\u2019re all committed to making it work. I think we can all be a little more organized.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the fight the Lakers showed Thursday, as they worked off rust from the All-Star break coupled with fatigue from one of the toughest back-to-backs on the NBA schedule, flying from Los Angeles to Portland, is something they can build upon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best way to compete in this league is to play hard,\u201d James said. \u201cYou can get through a lot of games if you\u2019re able to just play hard. You\u2019re able to cover up for a lot of mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

James\u2019 assessment on what it takes to win in the NBA was echoed by his coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had this revelation, like I don\u2019t know, six weeks ago, two months ago,\u201d Redick said. \u201cAnd the math stuff, it\u2019s important. Like it really is. Try to generate high-value shots. You strategize around throw-aheads and what those create, like all that stuff. It\u2019s super important. Game plan defensively, it\u2019s all important. Guys have to communicate, all that stuff. There\u2019s actually only one cheat code in the NBA, and that\u2019s playing hard. If you play hard every night, you have a chance to win. If you don\u2019t play hard every night, you\u2019re probably going to lose.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026You give yourself a chance to win every night if you play hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

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More to Read <\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Margarett Lanz
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PORTLAND, Ore.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Lakers are looking for answers when it comes to maximizing their star trio. For the star duo of LeBron James and Austin Reaves, things were a little less cluttered Thursday night as the pair took turns dragging the Lakers to a much-needed win after awful back-to-back losses. James and Reaves made the biggest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":842358,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24607,4161],"tags":[21713,19037],"class_list":{"0":"post-842357","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-doncic","8":"category-lebron","9":"tag-doncic","10":"tag-lebron"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/842358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}