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LOS ANGELES – When the Los Angeles Lakers first made the trade for Luka Doncic, one of the biggest questions was how Doncic would fit chemistry-wise on the court with LeBron James. With the Lakers securing the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference and making the NBA Playoffs outright, the initial sample size has been a success as they prepare for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The NBA Playoffs is a different story though. But following a post-practice media availability session, LeBron James quickly summed up his chemistry with Luka Doncic, as well as their mentality heading into the Lakers’ opening round series against the Timberwolves.
“Offensively, give Luka the ball,” James said. “And if we stay ready, we never got to get ready.”
With the Lakers finishing 50-32 and securing the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, it was the first time since the inception of the play-in that they’ve made the playoffs outright.
The Lakers closed the regular season going 7-4 in their final 11 games, but excluding the final game of the season when the Lakers rested the majority of their lineup, it was 7-3. The Lakers also have a clean slate of health with both James and Rui Hachimura returning to the lineup during that stretch.
While James acknowledged that both health and playing well to end the season both contribute to potential playoff success, he admitted that it really just comes down to execution on the court and ultimately just playing the game in front of you.
“You want to be healthy going into a postseason run, that’s most important. And then you want to be, other than playing at a high level for the majority of the season, in must win games doing down the stretch, playoff intensity games, and we had that,” James said.
“But at the end of the day. . .the game is won between the four lines,” James continued. “I don’t give a damn how much you know about a team, how much they know about you, all the talking, it’s not about that. It’s about, once you get on the floor, the game is won between the four lines. You get a game plan, you’re going to execute it, they’re gonna try to stop our game plan and vice versa. That’s what it comes down to.”
The Lakers come into their series against the Timberwolves having split the regular season at two games apiece. The last time these two teams met in the postseason was the 2023 play-in when the Lakers grabbed the No. 7 seed. The last time they actually squared off in the playoffs was the 2004 Western Conference Finals.
