Lakers’ big 3 of LeBron, Luka and Austin Reaves have been too small this season – The Athletic
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić has been wary of lineup-related questions, particularly his fit with LeBron James, and Austin Reaves, the team’s second-leading scorer. Unfortunately for him, he got another question on the subject Tuesday night after the Lakers beat the New Orleans Pelicans 110-101 at home.
“You guys going to ask me this question every night?” Dončić said. “Every night.”
Dončić might have been more annoyed than one of the 14 officials who have given him a technical foul this season. But he’s not the only Laker tired of the questions.
“If I’m on the court, I just play with whoever’s on the floor with us,” James said. “I don’t analyze lineups, things of that nature. It’s my job to, no matter who I’m on the floor with, try to make it happen, make plays. Always been the case.”
“That’s not for me to tell,” Reaves said. “Coaches will do all that. Whatever they put on the court, we’ll play.”
Back in December, Lakers coach JJ Redick was asked what he considers to be a respectable sample size. This was after Redick had responded to a question about Marcus Smart’s shooting as a starter versus as a reserve. Redick said 250 minutes “is when things start to normalize in the lineups.”
Well, look at which three-man group is over the 250-minute mark.
The Lakers (37-24) have now played 17 games this season with Dončić, James, and Reaves in the lineup together, going 11-6 and including all seven games since the All-Star break after the trio appeared together in 10 of the season’s first 54 games. While that’s a strong record, it isn’t necessarily because they’ve played well with those three sharing the floor.
In 297 minutes, the Lakers have outscored opponents by only three points with Dončić, James, and Reaves together. There have been eight games in which L.A. has outscored opponents during the trio’s shared minutes, eight in which the Lakers have been outscored and one in which they played to a draw.
Lakers Big 3 on/off point differential
Doncic/James/Reaves LAL games, 2025-26 seasonAll 3 on +/-Other minutes +/-
Nov. 18 vs Jazz (W)
(-8) in 15 minutes
(+22) in 33 minutes
Nov. 23 at Utah (W)
(-16) in 22 minutes
(+24) in 26 minutes
Nov. 25 vs Clippers (W)
(+6) in 17 minutes
(+11) in 31 minutes
Nov. 28 vs Mavericks (W)
(+8) in 20 minutes
(+2) in 28 minutes
Dec. 1 vs Suns (L)
(-5) in 16 minutes
(-12) in 32 minutes
Dec. 7 at Philadelphia (W)
(0) in 18 minutes
(+4) in 30 minutes
Dec. 10 vs Spurs (L)
(+5) in 23 minutes
(-18) in 25 minutes
Christmas vs Rockets (L)
(-14) in 8 minutes
(-9) in 40 minutes
Feb. 3 at Brooklyn (W)
(+1) in 10 minutes
(+15) in 38 minutes
Feb. 5 vs 76ers (W)
(-3) in 2 minutes
(+7) in 46 minutes
Feb. 20 vs Clippers (W)
(-2) in 20 minutes
(+5) in 28 minutes
Feb. 22 vs Celtics (L)
(-9) in 20 minutes
(-13) in 28 minutes
Feb. 24 vs Magic (L)
(+3) in 21 minutes
(-4) in 27 minutes
Feb. 26 at Phoenix (L)
(+16) in 25 minutes
(-19) in 23 minutes
Feb. 28 at Golden State (W)
(+21) in 17 minutes
(+7) in 31 minutes
Mar. 1 vs Kings (W)
(+5) in 15 minutes
(+19) in 33 minutes
Mar. 3 vs Pelicans (W)
(-5) in 23 minutes
(+14) in 25 minutes
One of the more disappointing aspects of the Dončić-James-Reaves combo has been the offense. The Lakers have scored only 109.2 points per 100 possessions this season with their three best players on the floor, a figure that would rank below every NBA team except the gap-year Indiana Pacers.
“The bigger challenge is when they’re all on the court together,” Redick said before Tuesday’s game. “Because they all want the basketball, and the reality … people have to sacrifice. The other two guys also have to sacrifice — they’re out there with those three guys. LeBron, his usage is low for his career. When Austin’s been out there, his usage is a little bit less than what it’s been throughout the season.”
Even against the lowly Pelicans, the Lakers were outscored by 10 points with Dončić, James, and Reaves on the floor. The trio was given a chance to close out clutch time with 3:31 left to play and a 98-94 lead to protect, and that’s when they played their best together, helping to outscore New Orleans 12-7 over that stretch.
Perhaps the biggest play of the game was when Reaves found himself switched onto Pelicans power forward Zion Williamson in the middle of a spread floor with just under two minutes left. With Reaves giving up nearly 90 pounds, Williamson took two dribbles and got into the paint. But he was met by the converging Dončić and James, with James finding a way to block Williamson’s attempt inside. On the ensuing Lakers possession, Dončić drove around an upset Williamson, lifted Trey Murphy III off the near side corner and assisted Smart’s dagger corner 3.
That was a far better sequence than some of the Lakers’ clutch-time possessions lately. James left Desmond Bane open for a big 3 last week against the visiting Orlando Magic, a game capped by James getting a belated pass from Dončić as time wound down. In the next game, on the road against the Phoenix Suns, Grayson Allen drove by Dončić and kicked to the corner James vacated to help inside to Collin Gillespie, who swung the ball past Reaves to an open Royce O’Neale for a game-winning 3.
The Lakers recovered from those close losses with deodorizing blowout wins against the remains of the Golden State Warriors on the road and against the league-worst Sacramento Kings at home. The visit to Golden State was particularly fruitful, with Reaves owning the first-quarter scoring, James taking over in the second and Dončić going off on his birthday in the third quarter to make the fourth irrelevant.
“For the longest time, we were one of the best clutch teams in the NBA — our record was really good,” Reaves said. “You’re gonna lose a couple. That doesn’t mean it’s chaos.”
The defense has held up with the trio together on the floor, only allowing only 109.6 points per 100 possessions. Some of that can be attributed to a microscopic opponent free-throw attempt rate that comes with starting first and third quarters with that group, as well as bad opponent 3-point shooting. But Dončić, James, and Reaves have all been solid rebounders as well, and Redick has been pleased with the zone defenses that the Lakers have used more liberally as the season has gone on.
“Since we started playing zone, our defense has significantly improved,” Redick said. “The world ended, apparently, and we’re still a top-10 offense, you know, top-15 defense. Which kind of was our goal coming out of All-Star break. So, yeah, we’re just going to keep pushing till we have it. There’s no other choice.”
It will be interesting to see how the postseason changes things. The star trio’s success has come against teams that don’t have much chance to compete during the regular season. But in the playoffs, talent is more formidable and defenses are more sound.
“They are hard to game plan for,” Kings coach Doug Christie said after facing the Dončić-James-Reaves lineup for the first time on Sunday. “LeBron in transition — the game slows down in the playoffs, so that’s going to be a little different. But his greatness is going to be his greatness. Luka, I just know that the whistle is a little bit different sometimes in the playoffs, because there’s a level of physicality and aggressiveness.
“LeBron and Luka make passes that there’s only a few people in the NBA can make. On time, on target, reading the defense, looking away and the pass hits the guy in his hands. That’s high level. They will be difficult to deal with, no doubt.”
Time has allowed the Lakers to figure out some things. They know not to have Deandre Ayton and Rui Hachimura on the floor with the star trio: That five-man group has been outscored by 47 points this season and got torched again at the end of the Magic game. On the flip side, there’s a good chance that Smart and Jaxson Hayes get more opportunities with Dončić, James, and Reaves after how strongly the Lakers finished on Tuesday.
Overall, the Lakers have just over a quarter of the season left to see what works around Dončić, James and Reaves. They’re healthy now, which was the biggest impediment during James’ delayed start to the season, Reaves’ recurring calf injuries and Dončić’s hamstring injury going into the All-Star break. The record is in a good place. There are worse spots for the Lakers to be in.
“We’ve obviously won three in a row,” Dončić said. “We’re playing together, since All-Star break, everybody. Obviously, the chemistry is going to keep building every day, every game we play.”
