Laker Film Room - Dedicated to the Study of Lakers Basketball

The Lakers moved in the 8th seed and now control their own destiny to stick in that slot after beating the Grizzlies and getting a couple of fortuitous losses from the Kings and Warriors on Friday night. Pete, Mike, and Darius discuss the Grizzlies win, their collective night of scoreboard watching around the rest of the Western Conference, and then preview Sunday's game against the Pelicans that...

The Lakers head into their final two games of the regular season in the 10th seed, but still have an avenue to climb up higher if things break their way. Pete, Mike, and Darius discuss the various standings scenarios, the importance of various games around the league on Friday night, the Lakers matchup with Memphis, and much more. And then later, the guys dive into Sunday's matchup with the Pelica...

With AD unable to play, a compromised Lakers defense surrendered a historic 3PT shooting night to Golden State, putting them on course for the 9 vs 10 play-in game. Pete & Mike discuss the team’s defensive dilemmas without AD, the missed opportunities within the game despite that, standings implications, and more.

The Lakers head into a game against the Warriors that has massive standings implications towards the 9th seed and the Lakers desires to still move up to 8th or higher. Pete, Darius, and Mike discuss what this game means to the standings and then dive into a more traditional preview of the game, focusing on the importance of LeBron and Anthony Davis vs. the Warriors, the Lakers guards on offense vs...

The Lakers split their weekend games with a great win over the Cavs, but then a frustrating loss against the Wolves in which LeBron did not play and Anthony Davis left after the 1st quarter with an eye injury. Mike and Darius discuss the games, focusing more on the Minnesota loss and how it impacts the standings and the push the Lakers are trying to make to climb out of the 9th seed. 

The Lakers head into their final five games with their biggest weekend of the season and a back-to-back slate against the Cavs and the T'Wolves. Pete, Mike, and Darius discuss and preview both games, highlighting the challenges both teams present, how the Lakers can create problems for their opponents, and the impact these games can have on the standings.  

The Lakers completed their road trip with a win over the Wizards, moving to 5-1 on their trip and 11 games over .500. Pete and Darius discuss the win, highlight some positives from the trip overall, and discuss the general state of the team as they head into their final five games of the season. 

The Lakers blew out the Raptors on Tuesday night, getting strong nights from LeBron and Anthony Davis in the paint and great shooting from D'Angelo Russell and several other perimeter players. Pete and Darius discuss the game, highlighting the team's advantage in the paint, discussing the return of Jaxson Hayes and the difference he and the rest of the bench made, and much more. And then later, th...

After a game in which the Lakers bench scored just two of the 116 points the team put up against the Nets, Pete, Mike, and Darius discuss the team's reserves, focusing on Spencer Dinwiddie's offensive aggressiveness, how injuries have impacted the group's continuity, integrating Gabe Vincent, and the differences in building out bench lineups centered around LeBron vs. the ones led by Anthony Davis...

The Lakers split their weekend games with a loss to the Pacers on Friday and then a bounce-back win against the Nets on Sunday. Pete and Darius discuss the team's struggles in Indy, the shift in energy and focus defensively vs. the Nets, LeBron's fantastic shooting performance in Brooklyn, the team's rebounding, Rui's offensive comfort level, and much more. 

The Lakers continue their road trip in Indiana to wrap up their season series with the Pacers on Friday night. Pete, Mike, and Darius preview the game and discuss how playing this team recently can set the team up to win, the difficulties of beating a team three times straight in a season, Anthony Davis' health and his general importance to beating Indy, and much more. And then later, the guys dis...

The guys discuss how Rui’s always-improving abilities as a a scorer are helping the Lakers offense — and now he has the first consecutive double-doubles of his career. Later, they discuss the potential return of Gabe Vincent & how that might affect the lineups.

On a night they did not have LeBron, couldn't make a shot early, and trailed by 19 in the 4th quarter, the Lakers won a double-OT thriller against the Bucks on Tuesday on the strength of their defense, timely shot making, and a whole bunch of resiliency. Pete and Darius discuss the game, highlighting Darvin Ham's decision to stick with his starters, D'Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves finding their...

The Lakers are back on the road for their last long trip of a the season, a six-games and in nine nights trek that starts in Milwaukee against the Bucks. Mike and Darius preview the Bucks game, break down the rest of the road trip, and then discuss the importance of these games in relation to the Suns difficult schedule in the chase to move up to the 8th seed. 

The Lakers got a pair of wins over the weekend in two totally different types of games, winning a defensive slugfest against the 76ers and then fending off the Pacers in a shootout on Sunday night. Pete, Mike, and Darius discuss the wins, highlighting Spencer Dinwiddie's contributions in both games, especially his 26-point performance against the Pacers when he started for D'Angelo Russell who was...

With just 13 games left in the season, Pete, Darius, and Mike discuss LeBron and Anthony Davis' ability to take their games to another level, particularly athletically, and what that could mean to the team both offensively and defensively as they try to push towards the postseason. 

The Lakers got back on track with a dominant win over the Hawks, spearheaded by tone-setting performances from LeBron and Anthony Davis. Mike and Darius discuss the win, focusing on LeBron's strong night and whether this performance signifies a shift in his ramp up for this final stretch of the season. And then later, the guys discuss Austin Reaves' season to this point, and also dive into why the...

The Lakers lost their weekend matchup against the Warriors in a game Anthony Davis left after the 1st quarter to an eye injury. Pete, Darius, and Mike discuss the game, how AD's absence impacted the outcome, how LeBron's brilliance offensively kept them in it, and much more. And then later, the guys discuss how the review process and multiple game stoppages ruined the end of that game and why they...

In the aftermath of Wednesday's loss to the Kings and ahead of Saturday's game against the Warriors, Pete, Mike, and Darius continue their discussion of the Lakers star duo of LeBron and Anthony Davis as on-ball shot creators and drivers of offense by turning their focus to year-21 LeBron. The guys dive into all the ways in which he's still great, but also where he's showing signs of decline and h...

The Lakers lost to the Kings for the 4th time this season, in another game that was not particularly close. Pete and Darius discuss the game and how the result highlighted some of the offensive shortcomings of the Lakers star duo of LeBron and Anthony Davis. And then later, the guys debate AD's role within the offense and whether his usage and results reflect a decline in his offensive skill set o...

The Lakers are on the road in Sacramento to play the Kings in a pivotal game that can have big standings implications, to say nothing of the revenge factor from this season's games where the Kings are 3-0. Pete, Mike, and Darius preview the game and discuss the challenges the Lakers defense has against Sacramento and how the Lakers can leverage their own advantages on the other end of the floor to...

With the win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Lakers reach 6 games over .500 for the first time this season. Pete & Mike discuss the win, Anthony Davis' historic game of 27 points, 25 rebounds, 5 assists, 7 steals & 3 blocks, the benefits of having a big playings alongside AD, Lakers switching more on defense & the recent creativity with Rui Hachimura on defense, encouraging sig...

Pete & Darius react to a hard-fought win against the Bucks, highlighting to D'Angelo Russell's epic night, the importance of the Anthony Davis - Jaxson Hayes minutes, the defensive substitutions & the resilience the Lakers showed, even while being down 6 points with less than 2 minutes left in the game. Later, the guys delve into DLo's incredible journey from his 1st stint with the Lakers...

With the Lakers set to play the Bucks for the first time this season, Pete & Mike discuss Giannis & Dame’s first season together, how the LeBron & AD duo has changed over the years, and how that’s impacted the players they need around them.

The Lakers went up big on the Kings early, but then got severely outplayed when the Kings leveraged their athleticism and speed on the perimeter to great effect on both sides of the ball. Pete, Mike, and Darius discuss the loss, how the Lakers did not have answers for De'Aaron Fox and Malik Monk, the team's schematic approach defensively to dealing with Sacramento's offense, Anthony Davis' rough n...