For much of the season, serious questions lingered about whether the Los Angeles Lakers‘ star-studded “Big Three” could truly coexist on the court. In recent weeks, however, those doubts have rapidly disappeared, fueled by a surge in form, improved team chemistry, and a climb in the Western Conference standings during a tightly contested NBA playoff race.
The Lakers have surged into third place in the Western Conference, winning 16 of their last 18 games. A major catalyst for this turnaround has been Luka Doni, who has been unstoppable, scoring over 41 points in each of his last three outings, strengthening his case as an NBA MVP candidate, while powering Los Angeles’ offensive resurgence and elite scoring efficiency.
Even as Los Angeles hits its stride at the perfect moment, Doni downplayed any talk of the team being playoff-ready just yet.
“No. We need some rest after the season, so I don’t want them to start now,” Doni said when asked about accelerating the postseason, according to ClutchPoints.
That comment is understandable. The Lakers have been heavily shorthanded for much of the year due to injuries, rotation adjustments, and inconsistent availability that disrupted early roster continuity. In fact, Doni, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves shared the court in just 11 games before the All-Star break.
That lack of continuity sparked early-season debates about whether the team might actually perform better without LeBron James. Those conversations intensified during a 10-2 stretch when Doni and Reaves were both healthy and dominant. However, that NBA storyline shift has since faded.
LeBron has willingly embraced a reduced scoring role, focusing instead on playmaking and leveraging his elite basketball IQ to orchestrate the offense. This adjustment has helped unlock the best version of Doni yet, fueling the Lakers’ offensive efficiency, half-court execution, and late-game production. Over his last 16 games, the Slovenian superstar is averaging a career-high 37.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game – the highest monthly scoring average in Lakers franchise history.
The team’s resurgence has also been bolstered by the emergence of Deandre Ayton, who has embraced his defensive responsibilities under head coach JJ Redick, providing much-needed stability in the paint and strengthening the Lakers’ defensive identity, rim protection, and overall two-way balance.
After early-season growing pains, the Lakers are finally starting to look like the championship contender, NBA Finals hopeful, and legitimate title contender many expected them to be from the beginning – and they appear to be peaking at exactly the right time in the 2026 NBA season.
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