LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach JJ Redick made clear last week that seeding was out the window. His mindset was more than understandable.
The Lakers had lost Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves to expectation-shattering injuries, were about to suffer the second of heavy-handed defeats to the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder and were just trying to figure out who they were heading into the playoffs.
Self-exploration, a journey that includes Luke Kennard evolving into the team’s primary ball handler and the Lakers shuffle their roster once more before the regular season’s conclusion, was certainly more top of mind compared to the who, when and where of the playoffs. Game 82 put an end to that path in the Lakers’ 131-107 victory over the Utah Jazz (22-60).
The Lakers (53-29) landed the fourth seed in the Western Conference as the Denver Nuggets fell 128-118 to the San Antonio Spurs. The pair of results means that the Lakers will host the fifth-seed Houston Rockets in the first round of the NBA playoffs, starting with Game 1 on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Crypto.com Arena.
Houston fell twice when it hosted the Lakers in March. But both Doncic and Reaves played vital roles in both victories, with the Slovenian star scoring a combined 76 points in the pair of victories.
Redick said pregame that the Lakers were just going to control their end of the bargain with the third seed still up for grabs at tip off. It didn’t matter to Redick who they were going to play in the playoffs. Any possibility was going to present “no easy matchup,” he said.
“We knew the reality, whether we got 3, 4, 5, 6, whatever it was, there’s no easy matchup,” Redick said. “Houston’s obviously a really, really good basketball team, and we’re going to prepare, and we’re going to fight and we’re going to go try to win a series.”
Sunday, the Lakers played like fate was in their hands alone. LeBron James logged just 17 minutes – opting to play in the regular-season finale despite the Lakers having locked up home-court advantage for the first round – and scored 18 points in the first half before exiting at halftime alongside Kennard (three points in 11 minutes).
“(James) had not a good season, not a great (season), he had a remarkable season, all things considered,” Redick said of James, who put a close on his 23rd regular season, playing in 60 of 82 games.
Rui Hachimura co-led the Lakers with 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting, while center Deandre Ayton scored 22 points (his most in a game since March 12, scoring 23 points against the Chicago Bulls). Hachimura said that team chemistry helped the Lakers through their 82-game roller-coaster season on their way to the fourth seed, adding that it was a driving factor in this final week of the regular season.
“At the end of the day, we know what our goal is and I think we fought through these last three, four games and we got what we wanted,” Hachimura said. “We got to keep rolling.”
When forward Jake LaRavia checked in during the first quarter on Sunday, he entered for his 82nd game of the season; the only player on the Lakers to appear in each regular season game in the 2025-26 campaign.
“It was probably my biggest goal at the beginning of the season, just kind of how the first three seasons went,” LaRavia said. “Like, I just wanted to have a healthy, consistent, reliable year and I was able to make that happen. So, I’m very excited about that.”
Redick added that he was proud of LaRavia on a personal level, mentioning his high-intensity defensive effort and consistency across the season.
“To play 82 games, particularly now, is a huge accomplishment,” said Redick, who had accomplished the feat once during his NBA career.
Nick Smith Jr., the 21-year-old guard who had his contract converted from a two-way deal into a standard two-year deal on Sunday to become playoff eligible, sank five shots for 12 points off the bench in 18 minutes. Smith, a former first-round pick in 2023, could provide the Lakers with an extra ball handler off the bench to quell the likes of Marcus Smart and Kennard during the playoffs.
Bronny James also played well in an increased role off the bench. Mostly playing in the fourth quarter, the reserve guard drilled 3 of 4 shots from beyond the arc en route to 11 points in 19 minutes – his third 10-or-more point game in the last six games of the season.
Second-year guard Dalton Knecht, whose playing time has reduced dramatically compared to his rookie campaign, tallied a season-high 17 points (5 for 6 shooting from 3-point range) in the fourth quarter alone. It was the first time in the new year that Knecht had reached double-digit scoring.
Notes:
Hayden Gray, a San Diego native who played collegiately at Azusa Pacific University and UC San Diego, made his NBA debut for the Utah Jazz against the Lakers and scored six points on 2-for-3 shooting in 25 minutes.