NEW YORK — Listen to any of coach Darvin Ham’s pre- or post-game media availability, and there’s a good chance he’ll utter one of his favorite sayings: His team wants to get stronger as the match continues.
The same can be applied to the entire season.
Because for the second year in a row, the Lakers are playing their best basketball as the regular season begins to wind down and the league schedule slowly shifts to the playoffs.
Last year, the Lakers went 18-8 in their final 26 regular season games to eventually become the seventh seed in the Western Conference standings and advance to the Western Conference Finals.
After Sunday’s 116-104 road win over the Brooklyn Nets, the Lakers (42-33) are 18-8 since the start of February, including 3-1 on the current six-game road trip that ends with consecutive games against the Toronto Raptors (Tuesday) and the Washington Wizards (Wednesday).
The Lakers entered Monday ranked 9th in the standings, 1½ games behind the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings for 7th and 8th places.
“The things we have to do, our laundry list, have been simplified,” coach Darvin Ham said. “And we know that nothing else matters if we don’t mind our own business.” And you get that playoff smell. … You have that smell in the air of the playoffs and the playoffs that are fast approaching.
“And so the guys are taking their attention to detail to another level. They take their performances to another level. And everyone knows that the only way to do this is to work in a group. No one will take us to the promised land.
This careful attention to detail has manifested itself more defensively – a months-long struggling area that has been cleaned up over the past two weeks.
The Lakers’ defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 108.3 over their last seven games ranks them 4th after their defensive rating of 118.4 from December 10 to March 16 (45 games) ranked 24th. .
The drop in opponent quality helped. The same goes for opponents’ 3-point shooting luck, or lack thereof, which works in the Lakers’ favor.
But the Lakers have also been a much better defensive and rebounding team over the past two weeks, highlighted by Rui Hachimura having three double-doubles over the last four games after having none in his first 57 games .
Improved perimeter defense also helped, with the return of Gabe Vincent after missing the previous three months due to left knee surgery giving the Lakers a boost in that area.
“The reason we brought him here was his competitive drive, his physicality, his defense at the point of attack, his ability to score the ball,” Ham said. “And just him being very competitive in the biggest moments, he doesn’t take second place to anyone.
“We saw the run he had in the playoffs last year with Miami. He’s a fighter and he just has a quiet leadership, a quiet toughness about him.
LAKERS AT RAPTEURS
When: 4 p.m. Tuesday
Or: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
Television/radio: Spectrum Sports Net/7:10 a.m.
California Daily Newspapers
