Lakers lose streak, but get more proof they're real - The Athletic

Despite being without Cade Cunningham in Detroit, the Lakers continued to avoid bad habits and overcome fatigue.

DETROIT — The last time the Los Angeles Lakers lost a game by one possession, Austin Reeves sat in near silence in the visiting locker room in Phoenix.The last time the Lakers lost a game on a single possession, Reeves didn't know if the team was in trouble.The last time the Lakers lost by one goal, he couldn't have known the next three weeks or so would be like this.

On Monday night, Reaves sat quietly in the locker room again as the Lakers lost 113-110 to the Detroit Pistons.Silence is not a sign of some existence crisis.It does not represent a group of unconscious people.On the contrary, it is the calmness that comes from being certain about what the Lakers have, regardless of the loss.

If the team hadn't changed, Reaves said, Monday would have gone differently.When the Pistons built a two-point lead, the outcome was clear.

"We would have lost by 100 points," Reaves said.

The Lakers certainly didn't.Only they didn't succeed.It would have been hollow if their recent nine-game winning streak had come with several other moments that threatened to end at obvious pressure points.

A late collapse against the Denver Nuggets?It didn't matter.A surge of energy and physicality from the Houston Rockets?Fatigue in Miami against the heat?Hard whistle in Orlando against the Magic?

"He would have been lost by 100," Reaves said with a smile.

The Lakers (46-26) won all those matches.They almost won another one in Detroit.While they were too talented to win a moral victory, while Reaves must have disappointed his team that did not win - the way things went against the Pistons strengthened many of the habits the Lakers tried to establish every season.

"The evolution that we can't bend but can't break - tonight was another example of that," Lakers coach JJ Redick said."Really, very fast and good defensively for three quarters. The second quarter, not so much. ... But we did a good job of defending. We did a good job of staying with it and getting back into the game."

Evidence is mounting that the Lakers can be a postseason threat.

Their winning streak has included wins over eight teams with winning records.Their last four losses — to the Magic on Feb. 24, at Phoenix on Feb. 26, at Denver on March 5 and at Detroit on Monday — were by 14 points. They control their Western Conference destiny as far as the No. 3 seed, owning tiebreakers against Denver, Houston and Minnesota.

All of that left the Lakers looking confident, even though the Pistons couldn't get past Cade Cunningham on Monday.

"There were some games where we got down (in the stretch)," LeBron James said.

"Even last night we lost at home to a good team. Obviously, they were looking forward to this game. It's a long road for us, so we still have a chance to lose, and that's what we can expect."

The "almost" win may not seem like a vacuum, but that's not how the NBA season works.The Lakers, playing their fifth road game in eight days, battled fatigue.They did not hesitate and did not give in to previous bad habits.

"I think when we were earlier in the year, all of us, maybe including the coaching staff, when things get bad, you fall back on your means of self-preservation, no matter what everyone seems like," said Redick pregame.

In Monday's loss, Luka Doncic stepped into the lineup to prevent turnovers.Reeves bounced back from a slow start.James was held scoreless in the first half for only the third time in his career, but he never felt out of the game (he finished with one rebound, albeit with a triple-double).DeAndre Ayton played big games.Everything was done according to the team's plan, and everything was done out of habit.

“My role is to win ballgames,” James said of the scoreless half — his first in more than 15 years."And that's how the game went."

His statement was not passive-aggressive;it was a matter of fact.

"We're a good basketball team," Redick said."I believe we're a good basketball team. I thought we could be a good basketball team all season. We've seen the light of it. We've seen short parts of it, but we're a good basketball team, and I think we've got to play together."

If the last 10 games are about proving that the Lakers are a quality team, competition in the last 10 games of the regular season will maintain that level of play while preparing for the playoffs.It seems like the coach is rushing to get the player back.

The last 10 games have shown him that when the Lakers are healthy, they are a formidable basketball team.

"The fact that Smart didn't kill us today," Redick said."It's important for us to come back healthy and be able to play our rotation. I thought after the Luke (Kennard) trade, when all nine players played, we were a good basketball team. I thought (Jared Vanderbilt) did a great job today. When he got his minutes, he was ready to play.

But the way our team works, you need smart people to play the ball, you need smart people to defend, you need Rui to shoot. Those parts are important to fit everyone. And you know, we have to finish the season strong, but we have to finish the season healthy.