The Los Angeles Lakers have been playing some of their best basketball of the season since the All-Star break. This recent success has been praised by head coach Luke Walton.
As a very young team this season, the Los Angeles Lakers were expected to have some ups and downs. Due to the number of young players, the Lakers were figured to be excited to watch on the court, but winning consistently would be a challenging task.
So far this season, that has been true. The Lakers are a very exciting team to watch, as players like Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Kyle Kuzma have sparked a lot of hope for the future. While there have been some tough moments to watch this season, the Lakers are certainly improving, and that was one of their main goals this season.
Since the All-Star break, the Lakers have been playing some of their best basketball this season. This is also coming with some notable injuries to Ingram and Josh Hart, both of whom are main players in the rotation.
Recently, head coach Luke Walton spoke about the progress that the Lakers are making and that it is very encouraging to see. Here’s what he said to Harrison Faigen of LakersNation.com.
"“It’s a big step in the process of what we’re doing. It starts with work habits and the type of basketball we’re playing,”"
While the playoffs likely won’t be happening this season for the Lakers, winning games now can certainly help them for next season. This offseason is going to be a crucial one for the direction of the Lakers moving forward.
Since they have the ability to be major players in free agency, they could be landing All-Star players that expect to win wherever they go. The young core of the Lakers has obviously not been in the NBA that long, and they also haven’t won all that much. Learning how to win close games and the road is something that they need to accomplish, and it is something that they have been doing recently.
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With 19 games left to play this season, the Lakers will try to continue to establish these winning ways. Playing spoiler and beating good teams to finish off the season will be extremely important for the development of the young Lakers heading into next season.