The Los Angeles Lakers, a team that seemed overly reliant on the simultaneous availability and dominance of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, are surprisingly treading water in the Western Conference playoff race. On Wednesday, they beat the Miami Heat, 112-109, without LeBron and AD, for their third win in a row — and the most improbable of the season.
“Next man up,” Ham said before the game. “Somebody’s gonna have to give us 42/15/9,” he joked.
OK, that didn't exactly manifest. But plenty of folks stepped up without LeBron (out with a non-COVID illness) and AD, particularly Dennis Schroder and Thomas Bryant — both of whom continue to produce in the box score and set the tone on the floor for their short-handed squad.
Dennis Schroder, who played under Darvin Ham as a young player with the Atlanta Hawks, said he's told Ham for "3-4 years" that he wanted "to be his PG" whenever Ham got his first head coaching gig. "Love him," Schroder said to end his presser.
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) January 5, 2023
Schroder took advantage of a Heat team bereft of guards who can match his footspeed. He posted 32 points (14 in the fourth quarter) — a season high and more than he scored in any game during his previous stint in Los Angeles (2020-21). He shot 8-of-15 from the field, 4-of-7 from 3, and 12-of-14 from the line. He added four steals.
“The last couple of games, I’ve been more aggressive,” he said. “And tonight, hearing that Bron is sick and AD is out as well, I think everybody is just giving a little bit more and that was my approach before the game.”
32 PTS (season-high)
4 REB
4 STL
4 ThreesDennis Schroder came up big in the Lakers W 🔥 pic.twitter.com/RuE6Zt5FNz
— NBA (@NBA) January 5, 2023
After rolling an ankle in the fourth quarter with the Lakers down three and 5:41 to go, Schroder implored Darvin Ham to allow him to finish the game and pledged that he would deliver.
“He got in the huddle and I told him, ‘Man, if I see you limping, I'm taking you out,'” recalled Ham. “He said, ‘No. Leave me in the game. I'll be all right, Coach. I'm good.'
“I said, ‘Well, be good.' And then he said, ‘I'm not going to be good, I'm going to be great.' Those were his exact words to me.”
Bryant and Schroder, who addressed the media after Ham (without knowledge of the other's remarks) corroborated the story. Bryant said Schroder's toughness inspired the team to “level up” and reflected the team's overall grit.
Here's Thomas Bryant sharing the same anecdote on Dennis as Darvin Ham:
"In the timeout, he sprained his ankle and coach tried to take him out and he said no. He didn't want to get out. He said, 'Let's be great.' And he went out there and — you saw what he did. He was great." pic.twitter.com/pJBQnoXxNp
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) January 5, 2023
Bryant, meanwhile, has lessened the blow of losing Davis, at least on offense and the glass. Since earning Game Ball honors after outdueling Nikola Jokic in the second half of the game in which Davis suffered his foot injury, Bryant, entering Wednesday, had averaged 15.5 points and 9.7 rebounds on 64.4% shooting (10 games). Those numbers will only improve after Wednesday's performance: 21 points (9-of-11 FG) and nine rebounds, which mitigated the impact of Bam Adebayo (30 points, 13 rebounds).
As with Schroder — who, like Bryant, missed the first three weeks of the season with thumb surgery — Bryant's influence transcends statistics. His relentless aggression, energy, and powerful rebounds and finishes palpably fire up his teammates (Bryant is a beloved dude in the locker room).
Other Lakers came up massive vs. Miami (Lonnie Walker IV was out, too, and Troy Brown Jr. exited early). Russell Westbrook, who committed seven turnovers in the first half, committed zero after halftime, got multiple key stops on Jimmy Butler, and finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, nine assists, and three steals. (“Give me my flowers” was stitched on his postgame hat.)
Austin Reaves shot 3-of-11 but led the Lakers with a +15 and threw the game-icing inbounds pass for the second time this season.
“All-time inbounder,” Ham said, before noting that Reaves passed on the initial read before finding a cutting Russ.
Austin Reaves with a DIME to Russ in the final seconds 💰 pic.twitter.com/hDjDOlQki6
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) January 5, 2023
Crunch-time execution has been a glaring weakness for the Lakers — even with LeBron and/or AD — but not on Wednesday. Ham chalked their success to being more “deliberate.”
“I just think different guys are settling into their roles, getting more comfortable with more reps, more minutes,” Ham said. “We had multiple big plays from multiple players … Everyone just banded together. That’s what we have to be about. … When we do get our big dogs back, whether it's Bron, AD, both of them back, Lonnie as well, it just makes us that much stronger, that much deeper because now guys have confidence. They have the ultimate confidence because they've gotten the reps.”
Obviously, the Lakers are better with LeBron and AD. However, these types of games can be essential to building culture, character, and chemistry. The Lakers are now 5-5 since Davis got hurt, and 6-5 if you include the Nuggets game in which he left early.
“I think it’s important, just for guys’ confidence, guys’ faith in their abilities,” Westbrook said about the win. “And not just that – faith in the team that we can win games against good teams regardless of who’s on the floor.”
Don't look now, but the Lakers are (gulp) five games out of the No. 4 seed.
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