LOS ANGELES — After the Los Angeles Lakers closed out their last home game of the regular season by routing the Houston Rockets 140-109 on Friday night to clinch the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, Austin Reaves joked that the team’s campaign, at times, felt like five seasons in one.
All the ups and downs and twists and turns L.A. endured provided Reaves with clarity as he looked ahead to the postseason.
“I feel like we could win a championship, to be honest with you,” Reaves said.
Luka Doncic, who scored 39 points on 13-of-19 shooting through three quarters, agreed with Reaves.
“That’s our only goal,” Doncic said. “I think we have the team to do it.”
The Lakers made sure to enjoy their victory Friday night.
Coach JJ Redick had to change into a kelly green Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt before his postgame news conference after being soaked in the locker room as players bombarded him with ice buckets to celebrate the team’s 50th win.
“The whole locker room is literally water,” Rui Hachimura said with a smile. “Straight water.”
Hachimura said Redick told the team that after he was hired by L.A. in June, leaving behind a burgeoning career as an NBA broadcaster and podcaster, he set two goals for himself: to win 50 games and to secure the No. 3 seed (76 of the league’s 78 all-time champions were the No. 3 seed or better).
On Friday, he accomplished both.
“Just incredibly proud of our team,” Redick said after apologizing for the $17,000 in damages he estimated the Lakers caused to the locker room carpet. “It’s an accomplishment to win 50 games in the regular season in any year. I think particularly in this year, in this Western Conference, it is. And it’s a credit to our players. Each one at different points in time has contributed to winning. They’ve all participated in a winning culture.”
Though Doncic has emerged as L.A.’s best player down the stretch, this Lakers team got to this point with LeBron James leading the way for the past seven years.
James, who exited the game after putting up 14 points and eight assists in 22 minutes before appearing to tweak his left hip/groin area, is “fine,” according to Redick. The 22-year veteran left the arena without speaking to reporters but congratulated the team with a post on X after the game.
“Man I was going to say something but it’s useless at this point in my career! Anyways more important CONGRATULATIONS JJ on a 50 win season in the WEST & Post Season nod!”
Though it is unclear what James was specifically referring to when he wrote that he wanted to “say something,” former Detroit Pistons great Isiah Thomas had criticized him for going through his personal workout five hours before tipoff without a shirt on during NBA TV’s coverage of the game.
“I just totally, 100 percent object to this,” Thomas said when the networks cameras showed James’ early pregame routine. “I just think the professionalism in our NBA league has diminished so much.”
It is also unclear what team L.A. will face in the first round. The Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets all have a chance to secure the No. 6 seed in the West, and lock in the Lakers as an opponent, heading into the final two days of the regular season this weekend.
For now, the Lakers will travel to Portland to play the Trail Blazers in the finale Sunday — and will surely hold out the bulk of their rotation players — and then have a week off before hosting Game 1 of their first-round series next weekend.
“The good part of the season is coming, so you got to stay ready, got to stay locked in, but for sure, the rest is going to be great for me,” Doncic said.
It will be the first time L.A. opens the playoffs with a home game since 2010-11, Phil Jackson’s last season as coach. (The Lakers were the No. 1 seed in 2019-20, but the postseason was played in the NBA bubble in Orlando.)
And they’ll have the No. 1 all-time playoff total points scorer in James and the No. 2 player in playoff scoring average in Doncic.
“It’s not just me and LeBron,” Doncic said. “We have a great team around us; everybody helps us in so many ways. So, if we want to win the championship it’s going to take all of us.”