Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

Playing without Austin Reaves (along with the already injured LeBron James) the Lakers faced a tough game Wednesday against a one-loss San Antonio squad, led by Victor Wembanyama.  It was, by everyone's account, an ugly, choppy and loooooooooong game with eleventybillion free throws, but in the end the Lakers found a way to win, grinding out a 118-116 victory to run their record to 7-2 on the seas...

The Lakers are playing well. They've won six of eight without LeBron in the lineup. Luka Donćić has missed four games, and the Lakers have won three. The new guys, most notably Jake LaRavia, Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton are all making very strong early season contributions. so while a lot of attention has rightly gone to the production Luka is putting forth when he does play, or the incredibly h...

  The Lakers came into the game Monday in Portland without Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, getting the night off after beating Miami Sunday at home. LeBron James is still on the sidelines. Gabe Vincent is still hurt. So a lot -- a lot -- of star power and rotation depth was in street clothes.  So if you were expecting a blowout, you were almost right... but probably not in the way you expected. The...

The Lakers came home on a quick trip, facing a stronger-than-expected Miami Heat squad looking to add some legitimacy to their solid start to the season.  It was an entertaining, fast paced game, but one the Lakers kept control of, pulling away at the end for a 130-120 win.  Luka Dončić led the way with yet another triple-double (29/11/10, along with three steals), and Austin Reaves had 26 (to go...

The Lakers got a Halloween treat Friday when Luka Dončić and Marcus Smart were upgraded to probable ahead of their game in Memphis, and man alive, did it turn into quite a fright for the Grizzlies.  Luka dropped a smooth 44 in his return, to go along with 12 rebounds and six assists. He was, once again, incredible, in MVP form.  The Lakers, meanwhile, got supporting performances from Jake LaRavia...

The recent updates and news about the health of Luka Doncic and Marcus Smart were certainly trending towards an impending return to action, with Smart seemingly more likely to suit up tonight in Memphis vs. the Grizzlies. But as it turns out... both have been upgraded to probable, which in all likelihood means they'll be taking the court. For obvious reasons, this is great news. The team needs mor...

For the first time in more than 46 years, the Lakers are run by a person whose last name is not Buss."  The Mark Walter Era is officially among us. Lakers fans will be watching intently for signs of change to both the day to day operations of the Lakers as a business and (more importantly for most) basketball team but change is going to come, it's just a matter of when. In the meantime, what are t...

Once again, the Lakers entered a game missing critical players, with Luka Dončić still out, Marcus Smart downgraded during the day (to out) and star/key pieces (LeBron James, Gabe Vincent) still sidelined.  Once again, the Lakers put in a high quality effort, displaying a lot of heart, plenty of grit and surprisingly good execution. It was enough to give them a 20 point lead in the fourth quarter....

The Lakers are in a bind, playing for at least a few more days without Luka Dončić, and for a lot more than that without LeBron James. But the hope for Wednesday in Minnesota at least is that the Lakers could get Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes back, which would make a huge difference against a Wolves squad missing Anthony Edwards.  The Lakers are obviously getting a ton of production out of Austin...

The Lakers were a step beyond shorthanded Monday, playing without Luka Dončić, LeBron James, Marcus Smart, Jaxson Hayes, Gabe Vincent (who is expected to miss 2-4 weeks with damage to his ankle) and Maxi Kleber. This on the second night of a back to back. So they were very, very short of ball handlers, very short of scoring, and were up against one of the more athletic and aggressive teams in the...

Sunday started with bad news, as the Lakers learned that Luka Dončić will miss the next week (at least) with a sprained finger on his left hand, and a lower body contusion. While the Lakers arent' reportedly all that concerned about the long-term severity of either, the schedule isn't kind, here. The Lakers play five games over the course of the week, starting Sunday in Sacramento.  So no Luka, no...

Now THAT'S more like it.  After a bad opening to the season on Tuesday against Golden State, the Lakers raised their level against a very good Minnesota team and bounced back with their first win of the season, 128-110. It was fueled, particularly early, by Luka Dončić, who scored 23 points in the first quarter, en route to 49 points overall. (To go with 11 rebounds and eight assists.)  But the ga...

The Lakers have a host of things to figure out ahead of tonight's game at the Crypt against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Not just because Minnesota is back in town after summarily dispatching the purple and gold in last year's playoffs -- though that's part of it -- they also badly need a bounceback performance following Tuesday's disappointment against the Warriors.  So how to get there?  One topi...

First things first -- Luka Dončić participated in Wednesday's practice, and according to JJ Redick seems fine following what looked like a groin/hip thing suffered late in Tuesday's loss to Golden State.  He's expected to practice Thursday, and play on Friday when the Lakers host Minnesota at the Crypt.  After that, there's a tremendous amount of uncertainty given the team's performance Tuesday ni...

The Lakers weren't great in the preseason, so in that sense, Tuesday's 119-109 opening night loss to the Warriors shouldn't be all that surprising. But in a game where Luka Dončić delivered 43 points, 12 rebounds and nine dimes and the Lakers still struggled to stay connected to Golden State, folks are going to be concerned. The Lakers got production from an imperfect Austin Reaves (26/9), but eve...

The Lakers open the season tonight! The real games begin. It's Lakers vs. Warriors, on Peacock! (Something new for this year, and an early taste of a new TV arrangement for the NBA.)  The Warriors are a team that mirrors a lot of what we think about the Lakrs. Obviously very good. Capable of beating any team in any series, even if they're not quite capable of winning four of them to get an NBA chi...

JJ Redick threw the Lakers socialsphere a curveball in Friday's preseason finale, choosing to start guard Gabe Vincent in the open spot vacated by LeBron James's early season injury. This, when most people expected either Jarred Vanderbilt or Marcus Smart.  So why Vincent?  You can argue that Vincent may not be the best at any one thing the Lakers feel like they need, but he ticks more boxes overa...

Hosts Nick Angstadt (Locked On Mavs), Joe Mullinax (Locked On Grizzlies), Rylan Stiles (Locked On Thunder), Ben Beecken (Locked On Wolves), Matt Moore (Locked On Nuggets), Jackson Gatlin (Locked On Rockets), Ben Garcia (Locked On Suns), and David Locke (Locked On Jazz) break down whether the Oklahoma City Thunder can repeat atop the West without relying on injuries, focusing on the crucial offensi...

Luka Dončić looks ready for the season to start, dropping 31 points, five rebounds and nine assists on the visiting Sacramento Kings on Friday in the final game of the preseason for the Lakers, but it wasn't enough to get a win. LA loses to the Kings, 117-116. The "dress rehearsal" was interesting on a few levels, starting with... the starting lineup. Gabe Vincent was a surprise choice for the fin...

The Lakers are down to one more preseason game, tonight at the Crypt vs. the Sacramento Kings.  It will be the "dress rehearsal" JJ Redick has referenced for a few days. The hope, it had seemed, was to have two of these, but for whatever reason this will be the only game the Lakers will run with their opening night rotation. The starting lineup for Tuesday's season opener is still somewhat in ques...

First things first: As suspected, LeBron James is hoping to return around mid-November, this from ESPN's Shams Charania. This timetable would have him missing about 15 games, which all things considered wouldn't be the worst outcome. James, who hasn't been able to participate in basketball activities since hurting himself in July, will need a few weeks to ramp up and ensure his fitness is restored...

It's been a disjointed preseason for the Lakers, with critical players in and out (or in the case of LeBron James, just out) of the lineup, whether in practices or in the first three exhibition games.  But tonight, that all changes! Barring any last minute emergencies, the Lakers will get the first of two anticipated "dress rehearsals" ahead of next week's season opener at the Crypt against the Go...

There were a lot of things about Tuesday's game in Phoenix against the Suns more important than the final score. Luka Dončić made his preseason debut and was dominant, just as he was in Europe this summer, finishing with 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists in only 22 minutes of floor time. Austin Reaves had 25 of his own. Deandre Ayton, who has been a rebounding monster this preseason, kept...

The Lakers got some good news on the floor Sunday, winning their first game of the exhibition season, 126-116 over Golden State at the Crypt. Strong games from Austin Reaves (who was banged up in the second half, but after the game was described as "fine" by JJ Redick), Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton -- three guys who will need to bring it without LeBron James in the lineup for the first 10 games...

The news out of El Segundo Thursday wasn't good. LeBron James, who hadn't participated in full speed drills yet this preseason, will miss the next 3-4 weeks with sciatica. At that point, he'll be re-evaluated. So there's really no guarantee all of this will be cleared up in a month.  That means the Lakers will be without James almost surely for the first 9 or 10 games this season, and very (very,...