Last season, under then-head coach Darvin Ham, the Los Angeles Lakers showed a lack of grit, effort and resourcefulness at times, and they lost a number of games to inferior teams. They also had trouble defeating teams that were feisty and brought a high level of intensity to the basketball court.
But lately, under current head coach JJ Redick, they have shown growth in both departments. Thursday’s game came against a Portland Trail Blazers team that is inferior to them on paper but played with a high level of effort and intensity, which meant that either team would have to truly earn a victory.
Despite being without Luka Doncic and forward Jarred Vanderbilt, the Lakers got off to a strong start early and withstood waves of pressure from the Blazers to come out on top, 110-102. LeBron James led the way with his second 40-point effort this month as a 40-year-old, while Austin Reaves bounced back after getting ejected in Wednesday’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets to post 32 points and seven assists.
Reaves said afterward that perhaps L.A. wouldn’t have won this type of game in past seasons (at 1:42).
“I think in the past, especially in my first two years, maybe a little bit in my third year, a little bit last year, I don’t know if we would’ve won this game. I think in the past, young, athletic teams that play really, really hard — you obviously have to match their physicality and pace and you’ve gotta stay poised through it all. And I feel like this year we’ve done a really good job of matching that intensity and also playing with IQ as well, so I think that’s a major leap from what we’ve done in the past.”
That victory snapped a two-game skid for the Lakers. They now hold a 33-21 record and are once again on the verge of taking over fourth place in the Western Conference. They will be severely tested in their next game when they visit the Denver Nuggets, who are on a nine-game winning streak and have defeated them in almost every single meeting going back two calendar years.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Reaves feels Lakers wouldn’t have won Thursday’s game in past years