What we learned from the Lakers’ five-game road trip

Lakers ended a bumpy trip on a high note with back-to-back wins in New Orleans and Milwaukee, maintaining a 3-2 trip record after win over the Bucks 119–95 on Saturday. The only thing the players seemed to care about more than victory was what awaited them after the nine-day journey.

“Let's go home”, forward Jake LaRavia posted on his Instagram story.

Here are five takeaways from the five-game road trip:

Lakers bring back their magic

DeAndre Ayton took credit for the Frank Sinatra soundtrack after the game in the locker room, but JJ Redick had Jay-Z on his mind. After completing the grueling journey, one of Redick's first thoughts was Jay-Z's “A Week Ago,” which begins with the words, “Just a week ago, everything was fine.”

A week ago, the Lakers were 7-2. They were riding a five-game winning streak heading into Atlanta practice.

Then things went south.

The Lakers (10-4) lost to Atlanta and Oklahoma City on the road trip. They played about a good half of the basketball in the first three games. But during the toughest part of the stretch, the Lakers rallied again and again pulled off decisive victories over the Pelicans and Bucks.

“This is the NBA,” Redick told reporters. “And you have to find those moments to recapture what makes you a good basketball team. And I think we've done that in the last 24 hours.”

Redick enlisted Luka Doncic And Austin Reeves for continuing to lead the team through choppy waters on Saturday. Even though the team arrived in Milwaukee at 3 a.m. Saturday morning and Doncic had played 40 minutes the night before in New Orleans, the superstar guard was still diving on the floor for a loose ball in the second quarter. He pushed the ball forward to Reaves, who found Ayton for a layup.

As Doncic becomes more comfortable with his teammates, his leadership shows not only in his play, but also in his sarcastic nature, which helps develop a strong bond.

“It’s great chemistry,” Doncic told reporters. “When I came in, I was probably a little more quiet, trying to get to know people. But now I'm just being myself, just joking a lot, talking a lot. So I think one of the most important things for a team to win is great chemistry, and I think we have that.”

Doncic's MVP campaign continues

With 41 points, nine rebounds and six assists against Milwaukee, Doncic scored his fourth 40-point game of the season, matching his total for all of last year.

He leads the league with 34.4 points per game and officially qualified for the leaderboard after his 10th game on Saturday. His points and 8.9 rebounds per game are close to his numbers in the 2023-24 season, when he led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals and finished third on the MVP list with 33.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. He's doing this despite shooting 32.7 percent from three-point range, his worst mark since his sophomore season.

Reinforcements are on the way

LeBron James is expected to return to the practice court with the Lakers on Monday after a productive test with the South Bay Lakers. He could make his season debut as early as Tuesday against the Utah Jazz at Utah Jazz Stadium. Crypto.com Arena in the Lakers' only game this week.

James is the only player on a standard contract still awaiting his debut after the Lakers brought back forwards Maxi Kleber and Ada Thiero during the road trip. Kleber, who was sidelined with an abdominal strain, played in three games. He made his first shot of the season in a win over Milwaukee, playing 25 minutes with three points and three assists.

Rookie Thiero also made his debut against the Bucks, scoring four points and marking his first NBA appearance with an emphatic two-handed dunk in the final minute. It showed the type of athleticism and activity the Lakers were looking for when they drafted him in the second round. He also grabbed one offensive rebound in the first half, which led to a Kleber 3-pointer.

Defenseman Gabe Vincent (ankle) remains out three weeks since he sprained his ankle against the Sacramento Kings. The original timetable for his return was two to four weeks.

The shooting is subsiding

Vincent's eventual return could help the Lakers address one of their most glaring offensive deficiencies: three-point shooting.

The Lakers rank 25th in three-point shooting at just 33.8%. Their 32.4 three-point attempts per game rank 26th in the league. That's a far cry from the 40.4 threes they attempted in games after Doncic joined the team last year.

Part of the shooting slump may be due to Reaves' early struggles from 3-point range. Outside of six starts in 10 games that led to a career-high 51 points against Sacramento, Reaves, who missed three games with a groin injury, has shot 26.4 percent from three this season.

He then caught fire in the second half against the Bucks, making five threes. After scoring 25 points and eight assists, he made three straight 3-pointers to open a fourth quarter that Doncic called some of the most important shots of the game.

“It was great that something happened,” Reeves told reporters. “…Hopefully we continue to hit the ball well.”

Pick up the pace

The Lakers rank second to last in transition possessions per game and transition possession percentage. Redick was confused about why the team was playing so slowly when asked about its pace before the game against Charlotte. He said pacing is “literally the first thing we look at every time we shoot a movie.”

But for the second game in a row, Redick admitted that the team, given its makeup, simply wasn't going to be a fast team. However, he still identified signs of success. Before Saturday's game, Redick told players the team was 9-1 when scoring 12 or more turnovers and 8-0 when scoring 24 or more turnovers.

“I think there’s a formula here for throwing the ball forward and splitting the basketball,” Redick said. “And they handled it well again tonight.”

The Lakers had 12 fast breaks and 23 turnovers against the Bucks.