Lakers Reaction: Luka Doncic & LeBron James BACK ON TRACK with excellent EFFORT vs. Pelicans

The Los Angeles Lakers have won three straight and gone 4–1 since Christmas, and the timing matters almost as much as the results. This isn’t just a brief surge; it’s the beginning of a schedule window that could reshape the standings for a team that has lived on the edge of credibility all season.

Since Christmas, the Lakers have played five games: four against teams below .500 and one against a top opponent. They took care of business against the weaker competition and got hammered by the best team they faced—an outcome that mirrors their defining split this season. Entering this stretch, the Lakers have largely looked like two different teams depending on the quality of opponent: dominant against the bottom half of the league, shaky against the top.

The numbers underline it. They’ve hovered around 16–3 against sub-.500 teams while sitting near 7–8 against .500-and-above opponents—a profile that screams “good team” but not “true contender.” It’s why many evaluators keep the Lakers in a third tier: dangerous because of star power, but not consistent enough defensively to trust in a seven-game series against the West’s best.

Still, the next couple of weeks represent an opportunity. Their upcoming slate remains relatively light, with the Spurs game standing out as one of the only above-.500 matchups for a while. That means Los Angeles can bank wins, climb the standings, and—perhaps most importantly—work on tactical issues in live minutes without needing to play perfect basketball every night.

Because beneath the win streak, the more meaningful development has been subtler: the Lakers have started to look more organized on defense, more attentive on the glass, and more balanced in their rotations. The competition hasn’t been strong, but the process has been visibly better.

And for a team that was flirting with “bottom of the league” defensive performance during its post-Christmas malaise, “better process” is not a small thing.

The Lakers’ Bad-Team Formula: Coast, Surge, Close

One of the clearest patterns in the Lakers’ recent wins is how consistently they’ve been able to “solve” inferior opponents without playing a full 48 minutes of urgent basketball.

The outline has become familiar:

Two-and-a-half quarters of uneven focus.
The Lakers trade baskets, drift through possessions, and allow mediocre teams to hang around longer than they should.
A late-third/early-fourth turning point.
Often, this is when Luka Dončić sits, and LeBron James leads a group that finally raises the defensive intensity, simplifies the offense, and begins to create separation.
The Luka return to end it.
Dončić checks back in midway through the fourth and the Lakers “slam the door” with shot creation, manipulation of help defense, and a steady diet of efficient looks.

Earlier in the season, this middle stretch belonged more to Austin Reaves, who frequently stabilized the bench-to-starter transition minutes. With Reaves out, LeBron has taken on more of that responsibility, and the Lakers have leaned into a “one star always on the floor” rhythm to avoid the dead possessions that have plagued them.

It’s not a flawless formula, and it’s not how you want to play in May. But against bad teams, it has been enough—repeatedly.

Why the Record Still Feels Strange: Fourth-Best in the NBA, Yet Still Unconvincing

Here’s the weird part of the Lakers season: despite looking outright dysfunctional at times, they’ve floated near the top of the standings. Depending on the morning snapshot, they’ve been cited as carrying one of the best records in the league—an outcome that doesn’t match the eye test for anyone who watched the low-energy defensive stretches and the Christmas Day embarrassment.

The explanation is straightforward: the Lakers have been elite at taking points from the teams they’re supposed to beat. That skill matters in the regular season. It produces a strong record. It also disguises weaknesses that playoff opponents will hunt.

That’s why this stretch isn’t just about wins. It’s about whether the Lakers can fix the parts of their game that have made them look vulnerable against high-end opponents.

Defensive Improvement Since Christmas: Not Elite, But Not Embarrassing

Over the recent five-game sample, the Lakers have posted a defensive rating around 112, and they’ve been better on the glass, grabbing roughly 51% of available rebounds while improving both on defensive boards and second-chance creation.

It’s important to be honest: this came against weak competition. There’s no need to inflate what it means in the standings.

But the tape matters. And on tape, the Lakers have looked more connected—especially in the areas that were most alarming during the slump:

transition defense
floor balance after misses
rotations on dribble penetration
physicality on the defensive glass
consistent possession-to-possession effort

The Lakers don’t need to become a top-five defense to contend. They likely can’t, given their roster. But they do need to avoid being a bottom-five defense. The difference between those outcomes isn’t only athleticism or personnel. It’s also organization and commitment.

And lately, they’ve shown more of both.

What Changed? Rotation Balance, More Defense on the Floor

The first visible adjustment has been rotational. Head coach J.J. Redick has been more deliberate about lineup balance, particularly in how he staggers offensive-heavy groups and defensive-heavy groups.

Earlier in the season, the Lakers often looked like they were flipping a switch between identities:

a starting group that leaned offense-first
a bench group that leaned defense-first

That kind of extreme split can create instability. When one group struggles, it becomes hard to “patch” possessions without changing the entire style of play.

Recently, Redick has moved toward more balanced combinations, and that has kept at least some defensive competence on the floor at all times. Specific lineup tweaks—bringing in more defensive-minded wings and leaning into larger, more physical groups—have helped.

The practical effect is simple: fewer possessions where the Lakers are helpless at the point of attack, and fewer sequences where one breakdown triggers three more.

Vanderbilt’s Minutes Matter: Athleticism and Defensive Options

One of the clearest personnel signals has been the reemergence of Jarred Vanderbilt in the rotation. Vanderbilt had been on the fringe for long stretches, but over the last several games he’s played significant minutes—around the mid-20s per night.

That matters because Vanderbilt changes what the Lakers can do defensively:

he can pressure ball handlers
he can switch across positions
he can blow up actions early in the clock
he can cover for slower defenders behind him
he can help the Lakers win the “effort plays” category

He isn’t a cure-all. He doesn’t magically fix spacing or solve half-court offense. But if the Lakers’ defensive problem was a deadly blend of unathleticism + sloppiness + low effort, Vanderbilt directly addresses two of those pillars by adding speed and physical engagement.

The Three-Part Defensive Diagnosis: Athleticism, Effort, Organization

The Lakers’ defensive collapse wasn’t explainable by one factor. It was compounded.

1) Athleticism (the roster reality)

The Lakers are not an elite athletic team. That’s been clear from the start. It limits their defensive ceiling and makes mistakes more costly.

2) Effort and energy (the leadership issue)

The Christmas Day loss crystallized a harsh reality: when the leaders aren’t defending, the rest of the roster takes the temperature of the room and follows it.

LeBron, by the standard of his own greatness, was poor on defense and on the glass in that game. Luka had been playing some of the worst defense of his career over a long stretch. And when stars look disengaged, role players often play like they’re waiting for something to happen rather than making something happen.

3) Organization (the fixable part)

This is the most important piece because it can change fastest.

Defensive game plans are built around rules: how you guard certain actions, which matchups you funnel, where help comes from, what shots you’re willing to concede. You’re not asking your defenders to stop Zion Williamson or Ja Morant one-on-one all night. You’re asking them to:

be in the right place on time
execute the coverage
rotate on schedule
finish possessions with rebounds

When the Lakers were at their worst, they weren’t only getting beat—they were getting beat while late, confused, and sloppy. That’s how a team becomes bottom-three defensively.

Recently, they’ve been better at the organizational level, which is why even with limitations, they’ve looked more competent.

The Details That Turn a Bad Defense Into a Middle-of-the-Pack Defense

The Lakers’ defensive “cleanup” has shown up most in repeatable habits:

Transition principles

sprinting back rather than jogging
stopping the ball early
matching up quickly instead of searching
protecting the rim first, then fanning out to shooters

Floor balance after shots

If Luka attacks downhill and the big rolls, the Lakers can’t have everyone pinned to the corners with no one above the break when the shot goes up. Poor floor balance fuels runouts, and runouts fuel defensive ratings that collapse.

On-ball discipline

funnel drives the right direction
go under against the right shooters
contest without fouling
keep the ball out of the middle when the game plan calls for it

Help-side timing

Being late on a rotation turns into:

a foul
a layup
or a spray-out three that breaks morale

Being on time turns the possession into a kickout, a contested jumper, or a reset—outcomes you can live with.

Closeout quality

hard closeouts to true shooters
short closeouts to hesitant shooters
stunts and recoveries to disrupt passing lanes

Rebounding habits

boxing out consistently
wings cracking back to support bigs
finishing possessions

None of that requires the Lakers to become a track team. It requires them to play with structure.

The Stars Set the Ceiling—and the Mood

The discussion always comes back to the stars because stars decide the emotional seriousness of the game.

When LeBron and Luka start games sharp—creating quality shots, limiting turnovers, playing with visible engagement—role players play harder. When role players play harder, defense improves. When defense improves, the offense gets easier because the Lakers run more and face fewer set defenses.

This is why the Lakers looked so bad in many of their losses to good teams: it wasn’t only scheme. It was that the stars looked uncomfortable early, and the team collectively behaved like it felt the game slipping away.

That dynamic has been different recently. Even in imperfect performances, the Lakers’ stars have been better—both in production and in setting a tone.

Since Christmas: LeBron’s Efficiency Has Been Loud

LeBron has been scorching since Christmas, shooting around 58% from the field while continuing to produce across the board. For a Lakers team trying to survive a Reaves absence and stabilize defensively, that kind of offensive reliability is oxygen.

More importantly, LeBron has looked more like the version of himself who can choose moments to dominate—and moments to lock in defensively—rather than the version who drifts through possessions.

The Lakers have seen this pattern before. Last season, a humiliating loss in Miami seemed to spark a defensive uptick from LeBron in the spring, leading to some of his best two-way stretches of the late phase of his career. The Lakers will need something similar again if they want to graduate from “regular-season winner” to “playoff threat.”

Luka’s Recent Shift: Same Production, Fewer Self-Inflicted Wounds

Luka’s production has been steady. The concern has been how he’s arrived at it.

Two things have been at the center of his rougher stretches:

missed step-back threes that become transition fuel the other way
turnovers that prevent the Lakers from setting their defense

Recently—especially in the second halves of the Memphis game and the most recent win—Luka has looked closer to himself, not because he’s scoring more, but because he’s scoring with fewer damaging side effects.

The numbers cited in those second halves capture the theme:

efficient three-point shooting (including a strong stretch from deep)
fewer turnovers
better control of the game

When Luka keeps the “bad possessions” under control, the Lakers’ entire profile changes. Their defense looks better because it’s not constantly defending broken-floor situations. Their offense looks calmer because they aren’t chasing the game after giving away free points.

This is the pathway back to top-tier Luka: not higher usage, but cleaner possessions.

What This Means With Austin Reaves Out

The Lakers are not fully themselves without Reaves. His value isn’t only scoring—he’s a stabilizer, a connector, and a secondary playmaker who reduces the burden on LeBron and Luka.

There were legitimate concerns about whether Los Angeles could tread water while he’s out—especially with Luka’s inconsistency and the team’s defensive slump.

This recent stretch has eased those concerns somewhat. LeBron and Luka have played well enough to “float the ship,” and the rotation tweaks have made the defensive baseline less chaotic.

But the larger truth remains: the Lakers’ playoff identity depends on Reaves returning and fitting smoothly into the improved defensive structure they’ve been building.

The Spurs Game and the Bigger Test Ahead

The Spurs matchup is important not because it will redefine the Lakers’ season, but because it sits at the edge of a key evaluation question:

Can the Lakers bring the same defensive organization and effort against a team that is at least competitive, at least structured, and not simply waiting to lose?

The Lakers don’t need a perfect performance. They need to look serious from the opening tip—especially against opponents that punish sloppy transition defense and poor discipline.

Because the next leap for this team isn’t beating bad teams. They already know how to do that.

The leap is proving they can execute their process—defensive details, rebounding, floor balance, and star-driven poise—against the teams they’ll actually see in the playoffs.

And until they do, the Lakers will keep winning games and still being treated like a question mark.