The Los Angeles Lakers may not be dominating the conversation as title favorites right now, but one thing they are doing? Closing games like seasoned pros. Thursday night was another chapter in what’s becoming a defining trait for this team: resilience.
Down 10 to the Utah Jazz in the second quarter, the Lakers didn’t blink. Instead, they chipped away at the deficit, possession by possession, until they finally surged ahead early in the fourth.
By the time the clock dipped under five minutes, they had built a 131-119 lead. Utah made a late push and got within three, but the Lakers held firm, finishing strong in a 143-135 win.
This wasn’t just a shootout - it was a test of execution, and Los Angeles passed.
Head coach JJ Redick has been making some strategic tweaks to help his team stay sharp in these pressure moments. One of the more interesting adjustments? Hand signals - straight out of baseball’s playbook.
“I don’t know if you guys watch baseball, but the third base [coach] giving all the hand signals - that’s something we’ve been working on,” Redick explained. “We don’t want to run into the same situations we did in Philly or Phoenix, where I’m trying to call a play and guys don’t know what we’re doing.”
Redick was referring to a couple of recent games where communication broke down. Against the Sixers on December 7, the crowd noise made it tough for players to hear him.
A week later in Phoenix, fatigue seemed to be the issue. So, the solution?
Go visual. Think of Redick as the Lakers’ third base coach, flashing signals to keep the offense humming.
It’s a small adjustment, but it’s paying off. The Lakers looked crisp down the stretch, getting the ball to the right guys in the right spots.
Luka Doncic - who Redick highlighted - was especially effective working off the ball, then attacking when he got it in his hands. That kind of flexibility is huge in late-game situations, where one possession can swing momentum.
And while the Lakers haven’t exactly been blowing teams out, their ability to win close games is starting to stand out. That’s not just a nice trait to have - it’s often what separates playoff-caliber teams from the rest.
The margin for error in the postseason is razor-thin. Teams that know how to execute under pressure, that stay poised when the game gets tight - those are the ones that survive and advance.
So, are the Lakers a finished product? Not yet.
But they’re showing something that matters just as much as flashy stats or blowout wins: the ability to fight back, stay composed, and close games with confidence. Keep an eye on that - because if they keep this up, they might be more dangerous than people think.