Season-defining stretch arrives for Lakers. Here’s what to expect

Hey everyone, it’s Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times, and welcome to the Lakers newsletter. The Lakers are in the middle of what could be a season-defining stretch of schedule that cuts a couple of ways.

The Lakers won’t need to pack more than an overnight bag before the end of the month, but their guests at Crypto.com Arena will be some of the best teams in the league.

Let’s look at some of the lessons the Lakers can take from the past week — lessons that will matter if (and when) the postseason gets here.

Let’s be honest

Unless there are some fundamental changes to the landscape, the Lakers’ ceiling is real.

The Lakers simply cannot beat Denver. Despite their best efforts on Saturday, despite four tight games in the Western Conference finals last spring, despite winning 30- and 40-minute stretches of play, the Nuggets own every piece of crunch time and the Lakers are clearly shook by it.

After their last meeting, Anthony Davis said the Nuggets do the same thing to the Lakers over and over and the team has been unable to solve it. Players groused about their inability to have answers, especially after seeing Denver’s late-game offense haunt them over and over.

There’s undoubtedly elements of this that are mental.

Yet there’s more.

Take the Sacramento Kings, a team without the defensive chops of the Nuggets but with some other similarities. If Denver’s Nikola Jokic is the best passing center in the NBA, Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis might be second. Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox can attack defenses like the Nuggets’ Jamal Murray. And both teams have plenty of shooters.

The Lakers’ troubles with the Nuggets have been mirrored against the Kings — making it seem like these are systemic issues with the Lakers’ style as much as they are mental roadblocks.

The plan hasn’t been working. And the Lakers haven’t shown great willingness (or ability) to switch up.

The Anthony Davis issue

The Lakers’ defense is completely dependent on Davis, especially without Jarred Vanderbilt on the court. The team’s defense on the ball has been uneven, and as a result the goal on virtually every possession is to funnel players toward their anchor.

Davis, then, takes on giant responsibilities. He needs to challenge shots at the rim. He needs to be the primary defensive rebounder. And he needs to be the communicative hub for everything that’s happened during that possession.

He’s been a willing participant. But the Lakers might have taken some of that willingness for granted as of late as Davis has taken a backseat on the offensive end.

In each of the Lakers’ last three games, Davis hasn’t taken more than 13 shots. In two of those games, losses to Denver and Sacramento, he didn’t get to the foul line with any real frequency either.

Since a two-game absence at the end of January/start of February, he’s taken 14 or fewer shots seven times in 14 total games. And after a flurry of passing earlier in February, he’s had just 15 assists in the last seven games.

Keeping Davis engaged on both ends of the court is critical — even more so with LeBron James saying his ankle issues are probably here to say. The Lakers haven’t figured out, especially in the last month, how to do it consistently.

The bench

The plan at the start of the season was for Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura and Christian Wood to be the second-unit scorers. Then, in a “realignment,” the Lakers turned to Austin Reaves. And then, it was to D’Angelo Russell.

But with the Lakers settling on a starting lineup with Hachimura, Reaves and Russell with Davis and James, Wood out and Vincent still recovering from knee surgery, the job has fallen to Taurean Prince and Spencer Dinwiddie.

Dinwiddie has just started to settle in and play with more offensive aggression, but Prince has been uneven. The Lakers were badly beaten by the Kings’ bench and until they get healthier, it probably won’t be the last time.

Song of the week

“Top of Morning” by The Hang-Ups

Stumbled upon this wonderful Minneapolis ‘90s band thanks to Pete Yorn, and this is a bar-rock gem. And with the Timberwolves headed to town, it was either this or Semisonic. Or Prince. Maybe, I should’ve picked Prince.

In case you missed it

‘The cavalry ain’t coming.’ Why the Lakers’ home loss to the Kings was a costly one

LeBron James exits early as Lakers surrender 19-point lead and fall to Kings

Lakers’ dominant win over Thunder exactly what they need at critical time

LeBron James becomes first NBA player to score 40,000 points in Lakers’ loss to Nuggets

Analysis: Lakers frustrated they can’t beat Nuggets, and the problem is getting worse

Anthony Davis and Lakers outlast Wizards for back-to-back wins