Austin Reaves hit the nail on the head on Monday after the Los Angeles Lakers' 113-110 loss to the Pistons. Speaking with Dan Woike of The Athletic, the guard said that if the team from just a few weeks ago were down by double digits, it would've looked a lot different (subscription required):
“We woulda lost by a hundred."
Look, all good things must come to an end, so as sad as it is to see the Lakers' winning streak turn into dust before it hit 10, there are positive takeaways from that loss.
Moral victories don't help Los Angeles in the standings (if only), but it didn't feel like the world was crashing down. There wasn't a black cloud hanging over the locker room as there would've been toward the start of the calendar year. There were no bad vibes and finger-pointing.
Lakers' loss doesn't change the path they've put themselves on
Dropping game No. 5 on your road trip (your first away loss in 18 days) isn't anywhere close to being enough to discount what Los Angeles has done these past few weeks. It doesn't negate what we've seen from a Lakers team that continues to prove it's one of the best in the league. If anything, the loss actually gave fans more reason to believe, as LA didn't lie down and give up.
The shift that we've seen from this team since the end of February is no fluke. Luka Dončić has arguably been the best player in the league since the beginning of January, Austin Reaves is the No. 2 option who fits perfectly next to the Lakers' top star, and speaking of stars, LeBron has assumed the third head of the snake.
Los Angeles' trio is what makes it so special, but the buy-in from the role players, namely Deandre Ayton, has propelled the team forward in a way no one saw coming. Even Marcus Smart, who was written off by many after his injury-riddled past couple of seasons, has been the spark behind the Lakers' elevated defense. He didn't play against the Pistons, and they missed him as Daniss Jenkins went off for 30.
None of the positives we've seen over the past month changed because of last night's game in Detroit. Instead, it just reaffirmed fans' belief — the turnaround that this team had is very much for real. As Reaves said, the final score might've been 113-13 if it happened in January.