After nearly three weeks soaking up the comforts of home in Los Angeles, the Lakers are packing their bags for a demanding East Coast swing that’s short on time but long on challenges.
Three games in four nights. Two of them on a back-to-back.
All against teams that don’t exactly roll out the welcome mat. And just to make things a little more interesting, the trip kicks off with a cross-country flight.
Head coach JJ Redick didn’t sugarcoat it after Sunday’s win over the Pelicans. “I’ve been part of the NBA 19 years,” he said.
“I don’t ever remember a California-based team going to the far east of the Eastern Conference for three games to play three in four nights. That’s an incredible challenge.”
He’s not wrong. The Lakers will open the trip in Toronto, then head straight to Boston before wrapping things up in Philadelphia. That’s a brutal stretch even without the jet lag, and it’s coming at a time when the team is still trying to find consistent footing.
And let’s not forget - they’re coming off a tough loss to the Suns on Monday. Momentum isn’t exactly on their side.
This upcoming stretch is going to test the Lakers in just about every way. Physically, it’s a grind.
Mentally, it’s a gut check. The Raptors have quietly been one of the more surprising teams in the East this season, playing with energy and cohesion.
The Celtics? That’s always a heavyweight bout, no matter the records.
And the Sixers - young, hungry, and relentless - are exactly the kind of team that’s given the Lakers trouble in the past.
Austin Reaves knows what’s coming. “It’ll test us,” he said.
“It’s a tough trip, but, at the same time, everybody goes through it. We’ll go put our hard hat on and compete to win those games.”
That mindset is going to be crucial. The Lakers’ last extended road trip was a mixed bag - a frustrating loss to Atlanta, a blowout in Oklahoma City, but also back-to-back wins in New Orleans and Milwaukee.
That kind of inconsistency is what they’re trying to clean up. And this trip?
It’s the perfect opportunity to do just that.
Deandre Ayton sees it the same way. “Our last road trip where we had OKC, Atlanta, those losses - it’s a good road trip to redeem ourselves a little bit,” he said. “We’re playing against some tough teams that are really good and I just think those games in those amount of days will really test our stamina and our mental stamina as well.”
There’s no sugarcoating it - this is a grind. But it’s also a measuring stick.
The kind of trip that reveals who you are as a team. Are the Lakers ready to bounce back from Monday’s disappointment and prove they can hang with the best, no matter the coast or the time zone?
We’re about to find out.