Lakers thriving as Luka Doncic and Jaxson Hayes connect

LOS ANGELES — One of the keys to getting the Lakers over their road bump, overcoming a 14-19 record against teams better than .500 as the postseason looms in the horizon, might be the player combinations on the court.

Since the All-Star break, one of those duos that Lakers coach JJ Redick had turned to is star Slovenian guard Luka Doncic and backup center Jaxson Hayes.

It’s not just that Hayes has recorded a team-high 9.4 in the plus-minus since the break – guiding the frontcourt with nearly two offensive rebounds per game in a category in which the Lakers have lacked production this season – for two-player rotations that have have appeared in at least six games since Feb. 20. Doncic and Hayes have tallied a Lakers-leading 8.5 in the plus-minus, sparking offense through their budding connection.

“The more we play together, I feel like it’s just easier to kind of read that person without even having to say words,” Hayes told the Southern California News Group on Friday evening before the Lakers defeated the Pacers 128-117. “You just kind of know what they want, so that’s been easier over the past year.”

Redick saw the link between star guard and backup big man continue to develop in real time during Thursday night’s loss against the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers (38-25) came back from as many as 15 points to making it a one-score game with 2:05 to go. Should guard Austin Reaves had converted the second half of a trip to the free-throw line, the score would have been knotted up as LeBron James returned from the bench after suffering a left elbow contusion; that injury keeps him day to day heading into Sunday’s afternoon matinee against the New York Knicks (41-23).

Instead, Hayes (19 points against Denver) and Doncic (27 points against Denver) had their performances fall to the wayside in defeat.

“We’ve got to run some lineups lately with Jaxson and Luka and shooting around that, and they’ve been really, really positive lineups for us,” Redick said. “Gives Luka outlets. It gives Jaxson space to run.”

Doncic, who has been playing alongside Hayes since the now-infamous 2025 trade-deadline swap that sent him from the Dallas Mavericks to the Lakers, said he’s noticed the 25-year-old’s improvement over the past year. Hayes is on pace for his best points-per-game totals since he averaged 9.3 points for the New Orleans Pelicans in 2021-22, his third season in the NBA.

“I always say I love playing with Jaxson, you know, I think this year his improvement is unbelievable,” Doncic said Thursday night. “And just playing with him, you know, he understands, I think this year even more how to play with me. You know, we’ve been working on that. So playing with him is very special for me.”

Guard/forward Luke Kennard, who joined the roster following the trade-deadline deal that sent Gabe Vincent and a future second-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks, might be the newest addition to the Lakers, but in press conferences since his arrival has turned into a vocal speaker about what the Lakers can accomplish this season.

He referenced a play Friday with 3:39 remaining in the second quarter: Doncic was double-teamed and passed to Hayes, who found Kennard in the corner for a 3-pointer to give the Lakers a 54-49 lead to quell a Pacers scoring surge.

Kennard sees the teamwork on display, the chemistry between Doncic and Hayes leading to scoring opportunities for himself – averaging 10.3 points per game and shooting 52.5% from beyond the arc across 13 games since joining the team. Kennard leads the NBA with a 50.3% 3-point percentage.

Following the Lakers’ victory over the Pacers on Friday night, the Nuggets sit just a half-game ahead of the Lakers in fifth place in the Western Conference, while the Houston Rockets are 1½ games ahead of the Lakers in fourth place. The Lakers will play the Rockets twice to kick off a nearly-two-week road trip following the final four games of the homestand, continuing with the Knicks, who mopped the Nuggets 142-103 on Friday.

“We still believe, even though we’ve lost some really close games that we could have won, and we know what we have in the locker room and in this group,” Kennard said. “We’re gonna be ready to play on Sunday. I believe in that, and hopefully we can come out with a win.”

New York at Lakers

When: 12:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: Crypto.com Arena

TV/Radio: ABC (Ch. 7)/ESPN LA 710, 980 KFWB