Lakers vs Magic! Injury Update And Keys To An LA Victory

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Hello Lakers Nation, welcome in to the LakersNation.com podcast.

My name is Trevor Lane and it's Game Day Lakers Magic, 4 p.m. Pacific time at 10 a.m.

in the Lakers.

Push their winning streak to nine games against the team that they've had some issues with

recently.

We're going to dive into all the specifics today, take a look at the injury report and

an important one for both teams, plus what's going on in the standings right now.

What's at stake in tonight's game?

What are the keys to victory for the Lakers?

Don't forget, come hang out 4 p.m. Pacific time.

Today, I'll be live right here on the LakersNation.com YouTube channel, breaking down the game as it happens,

doing a little play by play.

It's like a party and man has it been a fun party lately with the Lakers playing their

best basketball of the season.

All right, let's get into it.

Here is the injury report for your Los Angeles Lakers.

Austin Reeves pops up with left hip soreness and is questionable for tonight's game.

Now remember, he was questionable last game as well against Miami.

He didn't wind up playing LeBron and Luca.

We're also questionable.

They played Austin was questionable last game, though, with a wrist injury.

Now it's a hip issue for Austin Reeves.

So we'll see if he is a go or not.

Maxi Cleba, not a surprise.

He did get assigned recently to the South Bay Lakers just the other day.

He got assigned to the South Bay Lakers for a practice session there.

So that's a good sign that he's on the mend and we'll be back in action soon or rather

later.

Maybe we see him before the conclusion of this road trip, but if he's already practicing

with South Bay, I think we could probably surmise that at the very least by the conclusion

of the road trip.

We'll see Maxi back and available for the Lakers.

Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic, they are dealing with some injuries of their own, Anthony

Black, Jonathan Isaac and Franz Wagner, all unavailable for the Magic for this game.

Today, window Carter, meanwhile, who was a big problem for the Lakers.

The last time these two teams met is questionable.

So that's those are some significant losses.

Now, the last time the Lakers and Magic played, Franz Wagner did not play.

Jalen Suggs also did not play in that game.

Anthony Black will be out in this one, but Jalen Suggs is back.

So that formidable Magic defense still has plenty of teeth to it, even with Anthony Black,

not available.

Window Carter, again, was a monster against the Lakers.

The last time the Lakers and Magic played.

So that designation him being questionable will certainly be something to keep an eye on

as will the status of Austin Reeves as we get later into the day.

So some important things to watch there as of right now, as I'm recording this, the

Lakers are a two and a half point favorite.

I think part of that is the way the Lakers have been playing lately.

These injuries, what happens with Window Carter, what happens with Austin Reeves, they

could certainly swing that a little bit in either direction.

All right, let's take a look at the standings.

I did mention that the Lakers have had trouble with Orlando recently.

In fact, they've not beaten the Magic since October of 2023.

So nearly three years.

Now, remember, they only played twice a year because they are an Easter conference team.

But nonetheless, the Lakers have not fared well.

They are only four in their last four games against the Orlando Magic.

So this is an opponent that's presented some problems for them.

They have a lot of athleticism, play a very physical brand of defense and those things

have given the Lakers issues historically.

However, the Lakers are playing the best basketball in the season right now.

Just got a very gutsy back-to-back win over the Miami Heat.

I was the second night of a back-to-back after taking care of business against the Houston

Rockets. So we look at where things stand right now in the West.

The Lakers starting to actually get some separation for the three seed right now.

The Lakers kind of claiming the three seed for their own.

Now, we did have a little bit of help last night in some of the other games that happened.

The Rockets did beat the Atlanta Hawks, but the Timberwolves lost to the Blazers.

And the Denver Nuggets did ultimately get a win over the Raptors.

Though the Raptors made the Nuggets really work for it.

It took a 36 to 21 fourth quarter for the Nuggets to get that win.

But a little bit of help in that the Wolves lost in that one.

So Minnesota, now the sixth seed, Denver, now the five seed.

It's too early to start worrying too much about who's in what slot

because it's all so close right now that when we're talking about playoff matchups,

everything is so tight right now in the Western Conference that it can still change

a bunch of times.

I mean, right now you've got Houston 42 and 27.

Denver 43 and 28 and Minnesota 43 and 28.

So they are also close right now.

The Lakers getting a little bit of separation in the three seed.

They're 45 and 25.

So they're two and a half games up on Houston on Denver on Minnesota.

They're two and a half games up and all three of them.

But the Lakers also have the tiebreaker over all three of them,

which means it's really like three and a half games up on all of them.

They are two games up in the lost column on Houston right now.

But again, really treat that as three.

They're two games up in the law or three games up in the lost column on Denver and Minnesota.

So effectively, the way to look at all of this because I know this can get,

I don't know, a little bit convoluted, but the way to look at this,

there are 12 games remaining in the season for the Lakers.

The Denver Nuggets would have to be not three games better than the Lakers from here on out.

They would have to be four games better because if they wind up tied with the Lakers,

they do not go ahead there.

So the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers would have to lose four times more than the Denver Nuggets do.

Four more games than the Denver Nuggets do the rest of the way.

That's effectively what would need to happen for the Denver Nuggets to move ahead of the Lakers.

Same is true for the Minnesota Timberwolves for the Houston Rockets.

The Lakers would have to lose three more games than the Rockets do the rest of the way in order

for the Rockets to go ahead of the Lakers.

That's a pretty decent cushion for the Lakers with just 12 games remaining.

But nonetheless, the three seed, it is not locked up at this point.

Phoenix has been losing games.

There are no four game losing streak and that's created a lot of separation here.

It's a six game gap between the Sons and the Lakers right now.

And I do think that provides that cushion provides not just for the Lakers,

but for the Rockets, the Nuggets, the Wolves, a little bit less of a threat

that they're going to fall into the seven seed, which that was the prime objective for all of these teams

that were battling three through seven was just don't be seven.

Now with this losing streak, the Sons are on.

It's seeming pretty likely that the Sons will finish in the seven seed.

Take a look at Orlando.

They are in a similar battle.

They're the six seed right now in the east and they're trying to fight to do everything they can

to not be the seven seed.

Orlando has lost their last three games straight though.

So they are on a bit of a slide right now at Lanna currently sitting in the seven seed Miami.

But they're only a half a game back over Orlando Miami.

Also only a half a game back and guess who else the Philadelphia 76ers half a game back.

So Orlando cannot afford.

They're also just one game back at the Toronto Raptors for the five seed.

Orlando can't afford to lose this game.

And really they couldn't afford to lose their last three games.

They lost to the Hawks and direct playoff opponent arrival for them for seeding.

They lost to the Thunder and then they got blown out the other night by the Hornets.

Orlando's offense when it goes cold, it is really cold.

And we'll take a look at that in just a minute.

But the bottom line is the Lakers just as they were going to when they faced the Miami Heat,

you're going to face an Orlando magic team that really has something to play for here.

This is not a team that you're going to catch by surprise.

This is not a team that is going to come out there and put forth a lack of days ago effort.

This is a team that is going to be desperate to win this game.

And the Lakers are going to have to be prepared for that.

All right, what is it going to take for the Lakers to win to beat the Orlando magic?

What are the Orlando magic as a team?

Why are they right now 38 and 31 on the season?

What makes this club tick?

Well, what we've seen from Orlando is not all that different from what we've seen

historically from them.

And that is a team that cannot hit the three at least not at a consistent up rate.

Orlando on the season ranks 26th in the NBA in 3.

Percentage that said they kind of like the Lakers have have turned it up since the all star break.

Now they aren't on that three game losing streak, but they are playing much better basketball.

In fact, as of right now, they are 16th in the NBA in 3.

Percentage since the all star break, they've come up not a ton.

There's still a 35% that they have come up a little bit and they're hitting their shots more from there.

Orlando, since the all star break, when we get into some of their advanced metrics,

they're still getting it done defensively.

But what they're really doing, what's making the biggest difference for them,

it's the offensive side of the ball.

In fact, right now there are 13th in the NBA and offensive rating since the all star break.

They're a good defensive side.

There are eight in the NBA and defensive rating.

And that means net rating wise Orlando again, despite being on a three game losing streak.

Orlando ranks 10th in the NBA in net rating since the all star break.

The Lakers right now falling eight.

So this is by no means is this an easy game.

I know we tend to hear Orlando magic and we don't tend to think positive things about

Orlando in relation to basketball, right?

We think positive things about Orlando when it comes to, you know, Disney world and theme parks and things like that.

But maybe not so much professional basketball.

That said, Orlando is a formidable team this year and they are again,

playing a very motivated brand of basketball right now.

They're certainly going to be tonight and they are pretty good.

That's what the numbers have shown that this is a team that can cause you a lot of problems.

Again, the three point shootings not for the best, but on a one game sample, who knows if they happen to be hot

from three tonight, that could potentially be a problem.

They are a very good defensive team.

Offensively, you got to defend the paint.

So let's get into key number one.

What do you need to do against your Orlando magic?

You have to defend the paint.

Again, this is not a very good shooting team.

They have been better since the all star break.

Water finds its level though.

I think their numbers ultimately will regress to where they've been over the course of the season.

They do have guys that could shoot the three.

Tristan and Silva can knock them down.

Desmond Bane absolutely can knock them down.

But the primary objective for the Lakers has to be defending the paint.

In fact, the Orlando magic rank fifth in the NBA in shot frequency at the rim.

That means they are getting a higher percentage of their shots at the rim than all the four NBA teams.

So Orlando's goal is to get the ball into the paint.

And that's going to be not just a challenge for the Lakers point of attack defenders.

I brought up Wendell Carter earlier because the last time the Lakers played the magic,

which was back in February,

or Wendell Carter was great getting straight line drives all the way to the basket.

He was not the only one.

Paulo Bancaro had a phenomenal game.

The last time the Lakers and Magic played and he created a lot of challenges for LA.

And that one, in fact, as I recall, he had 36 points,

Bancaro did, yep, 36 points on 12 of 22 shooting.

So both Bancaro and Wendell Carter created problems getting into the paint for the Lakers.

Des Bane can do it as well.

Jalen Suggs has a ton of speed.

He can get into the paint.

But it's not just that with the Toronto Raptors offense.

We'll talk a bit about the transition play in just a minute.

But the bottom line is they want to get paint touches.

It's not all from straight line drives from the perimeter though.

Wendell Carter was doing that a lot.

Paulo Bancaro was getting into the paint a lot last time around.

But what Orlando also does is they pass their way into the paint.

We see a lot of off-ball cuts in order to help get those paint touches.

So going to be critical for the Lakers that not just the point of attack defender,

but the off-ball defenders are very aware for those cuts into the paint form their Orlando

magic. They like to use their passing to get them into the paint.

A lot of little curls that they run on pin down screens to get those paint touches.

They want paint touches as much as possible.

They're not a good three point shooting team and at least not historically,

but you've got to pay attention off ball.

If the lake again, not a good offensive team in general.

Overall, when we're talking about the Orlando magic,

but if you are not paying attention, if you're not locked in,

they can create some problems for you.

There are 20th in the NBA in points scored for 100 possessions.

That's not good, but they can cause you problems and we saw it last time around.

So the Lakers, they have to be ready to protect the paint and their off-ball awareness has

got to be on point for the Lakers offense.

The other guys have got to hit shots.

Look, Luca was fantastic 60 points.

And frankly, when you look at it, I'm talking about against the Miami Heat.

When you look at what the Lakers did in that game, the one concern with that was honestly,

the Lakers defense was not particularly good in the fourth quarter of that game.

They got scored.

I believe they gave up what 37, 037 to 38 points in the fourth quarter of that game.

Miami just kept scoring and scoring and scoring.

It just didn't matter because Luca also kept scoring and scoring and scoring.

They couldn't stop them.

But if you look the last two games for the Lakers, they've ranked in the 33rd

percentile defensively against Houston in the second game against Houston

and the 23rd percentile against Miami.

They were really not good defensively against Miami.

And part of that, I think we can attribute to second night of a back-to-back Lakers

were playing on heavy legs that definitely mattered.

But Luca, his otherworldly explosive performance very much saved the Lakers

because had Luca not gotten going like that, the Lakers defense was not finding

stops the way they needed to in order to keep them in that game.

Unless their offense really got going.

They certainly did 90 second percentile in points for one of their possessions.

But that's two games in a row now that the Lakers defense has been subpar defensively.

Again, the game before that against Houston, they're very good.

It gets Denver.

They're fine.

It was not good against Chicago.

We're not very locked in that game defensively.

They they've shown much better defense in general since the All-Star break.

We're just this is two games in a row.

The first time in a while that we've seen two games in a row.

In fact, the first time since February, really that we've seen two particularly

poor defensive games in a row in terms of the amount of points given up.

So the Lakers are going to have to lock in on that side of the ball.

But they're also going to need other players to hit shots in this one.

Remember Orlando historically not a good three point shooting team.

One of the ways the Lakers can separate from the magic is by knocking down their open looks.

And that's going to mean because you know Orlando's defense.

It's going to sell out to try to stop Luca.

He just dropped 60.

They're going to throw everybody at him.

LeBron incredible, incredible efficiency.

The last last few games eight of 12 shooting in this last one against Miami.

But the other guys are going to have to be able to step up.

And that's Jake LaRavia is going to have to knock down some shots.

He's two for two from three last two games, little fortunate on the first one.

But nonetheless, he's going to have to knock down shots.

Ruby Hutchamura is going to have to be willing to exploit the magic defense.

Because I do think Orlando they are quick enough.

They're physical enough to where they can create some problems,

especially of Austin Reeves is not available.

Big can create some problems for the Lakers.

And they're going to have to move the basketball find open looks,

find seems in the defense.

And there's going to be opportunities for the other Lakers to step up and hit shots.

Ruby again, we'll talk about him in just a bit.

I think he's going to need to have a big performance, a bigger performance.

And what we've seen lately, Marcus Smart's going to have shots fed to him.

DeAndre Aiden, of course, the battle for him in the paint Jackson.

He's was not available the last time the Lakers and Magic played.

So he's going to be important.

DeAndre Aiden, can you do some damage in the paint?

This was a very different version of DeAndre Aiden that the Orlando Magic saw

when they played last month.

So can DA be a factor there?

But the other guys on this team are going to the Orlando Magic defense.

They're going to force other guys to knock down shots.

They're going to send players at Luca.

Look, if Lucas on a heater, the way that he was last game,

there's no stopping him regardless of how many players they send at him.

But my guess is Lucas probably not going to shoot the ball.

Quite as well as he did that game.

So the Lakers are going to need to get more production from some of the other guys on the roster.

Austin Reeves, certainly if he does play, he's going to need to have a bigger offensive performance as well.

Again, this Orlando Magic defense, they're good enough to make your first,

your second option really, really work.

The Lakers are going to need their other guys to step up and make some big plays on the offensive end.

Now the Orlando Magic, one of the ways and one of the reasons why they get so many

of their shots at the rim is because they're also a transition team.

They like to get out and run and the Lakers of the course of the season.

We've seen them struggle with teams that can do just that.

Their ability to get back defensively has not been great.

So when it comes to stopping Orlando, you have to make them work.

They are not a good half court offense.

They don't shoot well enough for that.

But one of the things they do in order to help mitigate that is they get out in transition.

So the Lakers have got to make sure that they are getting back.

They've got to get numbers back defensively.

The Orlando Magic sixth in the NBA in transition frequency and their ninth in the NBA

in points per one hour positions, possessions generated in transition scoring opportunities.

So this is an Orlando Magic team that two degree can mitigate some of their offensive shortcomings,

particularly in the half court by not playing in the half court at all and getting out and running.

They are a good defense.

That certainly helps to fuel their transition offense, but the Lakers have got to be ready for that.

They've got to get back and they can't allow the Orlando Magic to have a high volume transition game

or a hyper efficient transition game where they're scoring whenever they do get a transition opportunity.

So again, the Lakers defense, they're going to have to really be focused on doing the little things

because this is a magic team that if you're not locked in, if you're not focused,

if you think, oh, it's Orlando, they haven't been that great.

We can pick up a win over them.

No problem.

The Lakers are the favorites coming in or Orlando can cause a lot of issues for you because of the way that they play.

They get down the floor fast.

If you're not ready for that, you're not ready to hustle back.

There's going to be issues.

They have a lot of cutting off ball.

They try to get a lot of paint touches.

Those can create issues if you're not ready to fight and really grind out a game.

And then their defense is good enough to really make you work on the offensive side of the ball to try to find open

locks and they're going to get you to funnel shots to the players that you want that they want you to funnel shots to.

So the Lakers as a team are going to have to have that mental focus in this game.

I don't think they want to snap their winning streak.

I think they want to keep winning here.

They want to lock up that three seed as soon as possible.

But Orlando is going to give them a real battle in this one.

Now all of that being said, who is the X factor for this game?

I've got Rui Hachemura and it's because everything that I've talked about so far today, everything I've talked about that the Lakers need to do in order to beat the Orlando magic.

There are all things that Rui can have a big impact on when we're talking about defending the paint.

Rui is going to have to take some shifts against Paula Bancaro, who is a big, very physical player,

created problems for the Lakers last game.

He's going to have to be ready as a help defender too.

Notice I talked about the off ball cutting.

That's where Rui tends to struggle.

The off ball cuts the little pin down screens, curls, things like that that are getting the Orlando magic into the paint.

Rui is going to be responsible for reading those plays and getting them right.

Now he is a player who comes off the bench.

Maybe the Lakers rotation changes somewhat if Austin Reeves is not a go in this one.

But I think Rui Hachemura defensively is going to be very important for the Lakers in terms of his ability to defend.

Take contact from a player like Paula Bancaro physically.

He's one of the stronger Lakers players, particularly at the power forward position, not on the same level as LeBron.

But he's also physically stronger than a player, like say a Jared Vanderbilt or someone like that, a Jake Laravia that you could put in there.

I think Rui Hachemura, his physicality is going to be very needed in this game.

He's got to be very aware off ball and be ready to try to contain drives.

And then offensively again, this is a magic team that is going to do everything they can to prevent Luca to prevent LeBron from getting going.

They're going to run a switch everything type of defensive scheme.

And if the Lakers can at least get a paint touch and a kick out, Rui is going to have to knock down shots.

He's going to import be important offensively.

The magic defense, it's scrappy.

It's feisty enough.

Jalen Suggs creates plenty of chaos out there.

There's going to be my prediction.

There's going to be a number of possessions where Rui Hachemura winds up having to bail the Lakers out on a possession with that patented 15 foot jumper.

If he's on, that'll go a long way towards overcoming some broken offensive possessions because the magic defense certainly can force some of them.

So Rui is my X factor.

I know it's been D'Andriate and for most games.

And he is certainly going to be important when we're talking about a paint presence in this one.

But I'm looking for Rui to step up in a big, big way in this one.

And frankly, it feels like he's due.

It's been a while since we've seen a great Rui Hachemura game.

So let's go Rui.

He's the X factor for this one.

All right, Lakers Nation Lakers Magic 4 p.m. Pacific time.

I'll be live right here on the Lakers Nation.com YouTube channel.

Give me your thoughts in the comments section down below about the game.

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Until then, see you and stay safe.