Any great team will always have that one pivotal group they will rely heavily upon to lead the way. The Los Angeles Lakers are no exception to that.
Everyone is well aware of the panic alarms sounded after the Mark Williams trade was rescinded, NBA trade deadline passed, and the Lakers were left with only Jaxson Hayes as a viable center option. Everyone is even more familiar, now, with the fact that the prophesized doomsday scenario never came to pass.
JJ Redick and his staff chose to lean into the fact that Hayes was their lone guy up front. To the credit of the Lakers center, Hayes has performed admirably too. However, it has been a unit that does not involve him which has contributed most to establishing Los Angeles as a genuine contender.
Lakers death lineup will be key to banner 18
The main reason the Lakers managed to overcome their deficiencies in the frontcourt was a five-out attack featuring LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and Dorian Finney-Smith. Making the one adjustment of swapping out Hayes for Finney-Smith has been the difference maker.
The Lakers' usual starting lineup featuring the athletic lob threat at center has been, just barely, a positive. With an offensive rating of 112.3 and a defensive rating of 111.4, that unit has a net rating of around 1.0, according to NBA.com.
There are no slim margins of the sorts when it comes to the group of Doncic-Reaves-DFS-James-Hachimura. The statistics skyrocket with that lineup. During the 2024-25 regular season, those five shared the court for 108 minutes in 13 games played. They were comfortably demolishing teams during that time.
Doncic-Reaves-DFS-James-Hachimura posted an incredible net rating of 18.6 during the minutes in which their unit was deployed. The offense was humming, with a fantastic rating of 124.9. They were tough to score on too, which a defensive rating of 106.3.
For all the concerns of being punished on the interior with that lineup, that group ultimately outscored their opponents in that category. The Lakers surrendered 8.0 points in the paint on average. They scored 10.9 themselves during that same time. The defensive versatility of James, Finney-Smith, and Hachimura has allowed their unit to switch comfortably, help often, and never feel too overwhelmed.
There is no doubt that this should be Redick's go-to lineup in this year's postseason. All signs have indicated that should be a formula for Lakers' success.