Lakers effectively playing small ball with Luka Doncic at the helm

Hey everyone, it’s Dan Woike, beat writer for the L.A. Times. and welcome to an airborne edition of this week’s Lakers newsletter, a chance for me to tell you all what’s really on my mind tariff free!

As the Lakers clinched a playoff spot after an emotional win Wednesday in Dallas, it felt like a good time to check in on how they’ve managed to pull this all off.

Going small

One of the defining moments of the Lakers’ season happened when Lakers’ team doctors decided that Mark Williams wasn’t going to be able to pass his physical.

Had the Lakers invested significantly in the Charlotte center, they might not have learned to embrace their small-ball lineups.

During the 104 minutes with Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith on the court, the Lakers have outscored opponents by 21.8 points per 100 possessions. The group’s played 104 minutes together — and the net rating is seventh best in the NBA among lineups with at least 100 minutes of court time.

Having only shared the court in 12 games means there’s also time to for that group’s on-court chemistry to grow.

“When we play smaller, it’s not like we’re playing small,” coach JJ Redick said before the Lakers beat Dallas. “Those guys are big. They have length. They’re strong.

“… I think just it’s as much mentality as it is schemes and then offensively being able to play small with all shooting lineup and guys that can create off the dribble. It can compromise the defense.”

The Lakers have stood down some of the Western Conference’s giant teams with the strategy, with Dorian Finney-Smith’s plus/minus numbers as the best evidence.

When the Lakers won in Denver earlier this season, Finney-Smith was a plus-21. Against the Grizzlies in Memphis, he was plus-15 and then plus-16 against the Rockets. In the blowout win against the Thunder on Sunday, he was plus-28 and a staggering plus-29 against the Mavericks on Wednesday.

“Come on now,” he said with self-congratulation after hearing the stat Wednesday. “Come on.”

With Finney-Smith and Rui Hachimura in the those lineup’s best versions, and with Gabe Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt also key pieces in the Lakers’ small-ball plans, the Lakers have found a real identity, forcing them to execute on defense and keep bigger teams off the glass.

“It also reinforces a lot of the things that we really value, which is effort and physicality and communication. All those things,” Redick said. “And our guys have consistently shown that they can do it. We are not in a stage of the season where we can have an on off switch. We’ve got to be on, the lights have to be turned on all the time.”

Luka’s magic

Lakers fans have gotten a glimpse of Doncic’s magnetism in his short time with the franchise, but the pull he has on people was on full display Wednesday as Mavericks fans poured appreciation onto him.

By the end of the game, the Lakers’ bench was completely on board, players chanting “Luka Luka Luka” along with the crowd in a moment that could have long-term implications for the group.

But mostly, the big takeaway was Doncic having his moment and meeting it with the kind of game his fans will speak about for the rest of his career.

“We were talking pregame, there’s a few players and typically it is not always, but typically guys that love being on stage and love the performance aspect of it are typically elite players and great players,” Redick told me after the win in Dallas. “And like when I think about Luka, it’s performance art. He’s on stage. He’s, he’s in some ways ad-libbing … and there’s an element of art to it. The same way that an actor on a Broadway show goes on stage.

“It’s the live aspect of being able to perform and then feed off the energy in the building.”

Song of the week

“Something About You” by Level 42

“Is it so wrong to be human after all?” Ah the 80’s, when we asked the important questions of ourselves over kick-butt synth-driven grooves. I’ve been lucky to cover plenty of big games, but I’ve never seen something quite like Wednesday in Dallas, with an entire building pulling for one guy to rip their team’s guts out. But again, it speaks to the relationship Doncic built with that fan base (and the one he’s starting to build in Los Angeles).

In case you missed it

Lakers star Luka Doncic scores 45 in emotional, winning return to Dallas

Hernández: Superhuman Luka Doncic delivers for fans during his emotional return to Dallas

‘Everybody had my back.’ Lakers forge tighter bond supporting Luka Doncic in Dallas

‘Unbelievable’: How Luka Doncic drew inspiration from Tim Marovt’s harrowing story

Lakers unravel after Luka Doncic is ejected, suffering a blowout loss to Thunder

Luka Doncic and Lakers make a statement in blowout win over NBA-leading Thunder

Plaschke: I was wrong. Drafting Bronny James was a win for the Lakers