HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky SEGMENT 1: Reasons for Lakers fans to be optimistic about their chances against the Nuggets.   SEGMENT 2: MORE reasons to be optimistic about their chances.   SEGMENT 3: This, of course, if Anthony Davis can close the gap a little between him and Jokic.   Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Monopoly GO! Get in the game and join your friends. Download MONOPOLY GO! now free on The App Store or Google Play. Yahoo Finance For comprehensive financial news and analysis, visit the brand behind every great investor, YahooFinance.com. Nissan ..read more

The Lakers spanked the Pelicans on Sunday to earn their way to the 8-seed and... a repeat of Sunday's game in New Orleans. This time, however, the winner of the game advances straight into the rest of the postseason, finishing as the West's 7-seed and winning a chance to travel to Denver this weekend.  The loser plays the winner of Wednesday's game between Sacramento and Golden State.  On paper, at least, the Lakers would seem to be the favorites. Three wins in four games over New Orleans, with an average mergin of victory exceeding 26 points. That's some real dominance and indicates ..read more

Given the disappointment of Wednesday's results and the box it puts the Lakers in from a standings perspective - they're far more likely now to be a 10 seed than anything else - there was at least some speculation that the Lakers might just leave a recovering Anthony Davis and LeBron James at home, at least for Friday's game in Memphis. Let them fully recover before playing again, and see if Sunday in New Orleans matters. There were certainly arguments to be made against that plan, and apparently those are the ones the Lakers went with. Davis and James both were on the plane, and are in positi ..read more

Locked On Lakers podcast is your daily ticket to stay ahead of the game and the first to know the latest news, analysis, and insider info for the Los Angeles Lakers and the NBA ..read more

Anthony Davis has been outstanding for the Lakers this season. He's put up numbers. He's been available, piling up minutes despite a variety of ailments. He's anchored a Lakers defense that often becomes catastrophically bad without him available.  But the timing of his latest injury/illness couldn't have been worse. Davis has missed the team's last seven quarters, and they happened to be seven of the most important quarters the Lakers have played all season. And while his symptoms (headache, nausea) sound like they're concussion related, the Lakers have said he's not in the protocols. Wh ..read more

The Lakers have been the beneficiaries of good health from LeBron James and Anthony Davis... until right about now. Sunday, LeBron missed a key game against Minnesota with an illness, and Anthony Davis was knocked out at the end of the first quarter after being whacked in the head.  Tuesday, in a game that would add tremendous clarity -- good or bad -- to where the Lakers might finish in the West, Davis was still on the sidelines with a headache and nausea (we'll leave it to the armchair physicians to decide what that sounds like) and LeBron was still feeling awful, arriving at the arena ..read more

LeBron James (flu-like symptons) was already out of the lineup Sunday for LA's matchup against the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves at the Crypt.  The Lakers had the lead early and kept it through the first quarter... until Anthony Davis was whacked across the face, re-injuring the same eye he hurt against Golden State last month. He did not return, and at that point the Wolves went on a massive run and the Lakers really couldn't do much to stop it. By halftime, Minnesota was up 15. LA played hard in the third and managed to get the deficit down to four, but couldn't keep up the momentum ..read more

Thanks to an excellent road trip and a well-timed skid from the Sacramento Kings, the Lakers showed up at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday with a chance to move, however temporarily, into the 8th spot in the Western Conference.  That would, however, require a strong effort against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who entered as the 3-seed in the Eastern Conference. So no pushover there.  Winner winner, chicken dinner. LA beats the Cavs, 116-97. After a back-and-forth first quarter, the Lakers took control of the game, and after letting Cleveland take the lead in the third following a huge run, the ..read more

The path this season for Rui Hachimura hasn't exactly been super duper smooth. There have been injuries, inconsistent performance, and extremely inconsistent stretches of playing time.  His path to the starting lineup at the beginning of last month was somewhat accidental.  But since he got there? Man alive, has he played well, and the Lakers have thrived. To the point that in March, he was the most efficient player in the NBA. His attention to detail defensively, Darvin Ham says, has increased. He's rebounding the ball with increased vigor, something the Lakers really, really, REALL ..read more

When you get to the last game of a six game road trip, there are all sorts of ways to view the game. Some might land on "just win, style points don't count," especially given the Lakers were playing on the second night of a back-to-back and didn't get to Washington until 3 in the morning. Others might look at the opponent—the absolutely awful Washington Wizards—and believe the "how" matters.  Your POV on this sort of thing will definitely color your reaction to LA's 125-120 win, one that looked like it might be a carbon copy of Tuesday's win over Toronto... until it wasn't.  Where th ..read more