LOS ANGELES — The clock barely touched 16 seconds.
Sixteen.
That’s how lengthy it took for the Los Angeles Lakers to fracture.
Not their lead — they by no means had one. Not their playoff hopes — these were already solidified — however their touchdown spot is on life help.
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No, what shattered in these 16 seconds was one thing quieter. Something uglier. Something that occurs when a staff that was flying just seven days ago instantly cannot breathe.
JJ Redick known as a timeout. Pulled out his dry-erase board. And earlier than he might draw a single line, Jarred Vanderbilt was in his face.
Right there. Near the free-throw line. Cameras rolling.
Austin Reaves — in avenue garments, indirect shredded, powerless — stepped between them. Nate McMillan, too.
Assistant coaches. Players.
A human wall constructed to separate a coach and his ahead, each of them red-faced, each of them saying issues that may dwell on each spotlight reel from right here to the playoffs.
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“It’s nothing personal with him,” Redick stated. “Normal stuff from my end.”
Normal.
For a staff that was 15-2 in March.
For a staff that was closing in on the third seed.
For a staff that had the league’s oldest celebrity enjoying like the youngest — till he did not.
Until Luka Dončić flew to Europe with a Grade 2 hamstring pressure.
Until Austin Reaves joined him on the sideline with an indirect that refused to heal.
Until Marcus Smart limped.
Until Jaxson Hayes was scratched late, left foot soreness, a ghost scratch, the closing domino.
And then LeBron James sat. Arthritic left foot. Rest.
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The King, resting.
So right here they were.
The Los Angeles Lakers. Pacific Division champions. Playoff-bound.
And completely, fully, thunderously misplaced.
Jay-Z stated it finest. Said it twenty years ago, and it nonetheless cuts like a blade: “The reason why we lead the pack, this is a marathon. You start off fast then you wheezing in the back.”
A week ago, the Lakers were sprinting.
Fifteen wins in seventeen video games, the third seed of their grasp.
Dončić threw dimes. James dunked on Father Time. Reaves hit pictures that made grown males cry.
The complete metropolis buzzed like a beehive kicked awake.
Now? Now they’re wheezing.
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The Lakers misplaced to Oklahoma City 123-87.
The Thunder — defending champs, machine-like, cruel — voraciously consumed, no, they executed the Lakers.
They hung 21 threes on a protection that seemed prefer it had by no means met a closeout it favored.
Isaiah Joe hit six of them. Jared McCain added three extra. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander cruised to 25 factors and eight assists like he was taking a morning jog.
And the Lakers? The Lakers scored their lowest level complete of the season –– 87 factors.
Eighty-seven.
“We fought hard for basically 18 minutes,” Redick admitted. “We were tied 42-42.”
Then the wheels got here off.
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Then the Thunder completed the half on a 23-5 run. Then the Lakers scored just 22 factors over the subsequent 24 minutes of basketball.
22 factors in half a recreation, that is not a hunch. That’s a disappearance.
Rui Hachimura scored 15 factors. Drew Timme added 11 factors. Adou Thiero — a rookie, career-high 10 factors — performed his coronary heart out.
But coronary heart would not matter while you’re lacking 94.6 factors per recreation out of your beginning lineup.
Heart would not matter when your coach is arguing together with his ahead sixteen seconds into the second quarter.
Heart would not matter when the defending champions determine it is time to flip it up, and you haven’t any reply.
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But let’s rewind to these first 16 seconds.
Second quarter. Fresh off the break. Vanderbilt checks in.
Sixteen seconds later — possibly two possessions, possibly much less — Redick whistles the timeout.
He would not wait.
Doesn’t deliberate.
He factors to Dalton Knecht. Tells the second-year guard to exchange Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt would not stroll to the bench. He walks to Redick.
Straight line. No hesitation.
And then the phrases begin flying.
“I called a timeout to get him out of the game,” Redick stated. “And he reacted.”
Reacted.
That phrase is doing a lot of heavy lifting and carrying a lot of weight.
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What did Vanderbilt say?
No one’s saying. Not on the document. Not in the locker room — as a result of Vanderbilt dressed and left earlier than reporters ever received in.
But the photos inform the story. The pointing. The jawing.
The means Reaves — injured, unavailable, however nonetheless current — wedged himself between his coach and his teammate.
The means McMillan grabbed an arm.
The complete bench grew to become a buffer zone.
“Normal interaction for me,” Redick stated.
Normal.
For a staff that had just misplaced three straight. For a staff that had misplaced two of these to the identical opponent. For a staff that watched its 15-2 March flip into a 0-3 April in the span of seven days.
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Vanderbilt performed 5 minutes, the place he logged three factors, two rebounds, one help and one steal. He then sat the remainder of the evening and did not see the ground once more.
“Again, nothing personal with him,” Redick stated. “But we’ve got to scrap and claw. We’ve got to all be on the same page. We’ve got to be great teammates. We’ve got to all play hard.”
Scrap. Claw. Same web page. Great teammates. Play exhausting. That’s 5 imperatives in a single sentence. That’s a coach begging for cohesion from a staff that is coming aside at the seams.
Here’s what it’s essential perceive about JJ Redick: he would not wait.
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He pulled Hachimura two minutes and 27 seconds into the first quarter.
Two minutes.
Hachimura had performed one thing — did not do his job, Redick stated — and the hook got here that quick.
In went Adou Thiero. Out went the veteran.
No sentiment. No seniority. Just efficiency.
“I called the early timeout because Rui didn’t do his job,” Redick stated. “We’ve got to find nine guys that are all-in on us fighting.”
Nine guys. Not fifteen. Not the complete roster. Nine.
He’s trying for a playoff rotation. He’s trying for the ones who will not break when the marathon will get exhausting.
Hachimura responded. Came again in. Finished with a team-high 15 factors on 7-for-10 capturing.
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Didn’t discuss to reporters afterward. Just dressed and left.
Some guys combat with phrases. Some guys combat with silence.
Vanderbilt? He fought with quantity. And then he fought from the bench. And then he fought from the car parking zone.
“The seeding part probably went out the window after the OKC game,” Redick stated. That’s the closest he got here to give up.
That’s the second the coach checked out the standings — fourth place, tied with Denver however dropping the tiebreaker, trying up at a Rockets staff that will not cease successful — and stated, quietly, we’re not chasing anymore.
“We’ve got to prepare our team, our group that we’re going to have available to play in the playoff series,” Redick stated.
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Translation: This is who we are actually. Stop asking about who’s lacking.
Timme did not know he’d be a story tonight.
He’d been in the G League, engaged on his level guard abilities with a coach named Zach, studying to carry the ball up. Learning to learn defenses. Learning to be prepared.
Then the cellphone rang.
“I haven’t really been around too much,” Timme stated. “But you got to find ways to still compete and battle. That’s all we can do.”
Timme scored 11 factors.
He ran pick-and-roll with Luke Kennard. He drew Lou Dort — certainly one of the finest defenders in basketball — choosing him up full courtroom.
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He took it as a praise.
“I’d say that’s quite the compliment that they had him pick me up full court,” Timme stated. “Zach helped prepare me for this moment.”
Kennard, in the meantime, retains displaying layers nobody knew he had –– sixteen rebounds in opposition to Dallas, 9 assists in opposition to OKC. A capturing guard enjoying level guard in opposition to the defending champions.
“Not bad,” Kennard stated. “Just trying to be poised. Under control.”
Poised. Under management. Two phrases that described nothing about this recreation. Two phrases that felt like a prayer whispered in a burning constructing.
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“The last few games we’re trying to find something that’ll work for us,” Kennard stated. “Carry it over to the playoffs.”
Playoffs.
They’re nonetheless saying that phrase. Still believing it.
Even as the Thunder dropped 123. Even as the sideline boiled over. Even as LeBron sat in avenue garments, foot wrapped, watching his staff wheeze.
Here’s the factor about a marathon: it would not care how briskly you began.
It would not care about your 15-2 March. Doesn’t care about your third-seed aspirations. Doesn’t care about your Luka or your Austin or your Marcus or your Jaxson or your LeBron.
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The marathon solely cares who’s nonetheless standing at mile 26.
Right now, the Lakers are standing. Barely. But standing.
They have three video games left. Golden State. Phoenix. Utah.
Three possibilities to search out these 9 guys Redick retains speaking about. Three possibilities to recollect methods to play protection. Three possibilities to cease the bleeding earlier than the playoffs swallow them complete.
Los Angeles will need to win two of the subsequent three to place themselves in a good place.
Good place. Not nice. Not supreme. Not what the Lakers dreamed about a week ago.
Just good sufficient.
LeBron might be again. Probably.
Marcus Smart may return. Maybe.
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But Luka is in Europe. Reaves is out for the common season. Hayes is day-to-day.
And the Thunder just reminded everybody what a actual championship contender appears to be like like.
They are a machine. They are what each staff aspires to be.
The Lakers aspired to that a week ago. Before the accidents. Before the quarrel. Before the wheezing began.
Now they’re just making an attempt to complete.
Not first. Not third. Just end.
Because in a marathon, that is all that issues at the finish.
You begin off quick, then you definitely wheezing in the again.
The Lakers are wheezing, however they’re nonetheless operating.