Lakers continue to dominate lower-tier teams but must figure out how to compete with the NBA’s elite consistently
· Yahoo Sports
LOS ANGELES - - — The Los Angeles Lakers are the classic playground bullies of the NBA. They beat up on the little guys but struggle when “picking on someone their own size”.
Los Angeles kept their dominate play against the bottom feeders of the NBA going as they blew out the lowly Indiana Pacers 128-117 behind 44 points from Luka Doncic on Friday night.
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Los Angeles (39-25) has now won five of their last six games. Defeating all teams with 31 or less wins on the season so far. The Lakers sit at 26-7 against teams under .500 so far this season.
“Nights like this can change the trajectory for teams and players,” guard Marcus Smart said. “So hopefully this win and tonight, in the way, the fashion that we won it, kicks our confidence up.”
Most of this year, Los Angeles has found a way to knock off the teams “they are supposed to beat”. The concern continues to be when they face off against the elite teams in the NBA.
As of March 2026, the Lakers have struggled against top-tier NBA opponents, holding a underwhelming 6-13 record against the league’s top 10 teams. This season Los Angeles has a 14-19 record against teams with a .500 or better record, which is among the worst marks for a top-six seed in the Western Conference.
When playing against the league’s best, the Lakers have shown a significant struggle with a -12.9 net rating in those games against the top-10 teams in the NBA, according to Cleaning The Glass.
With upcoming matchups against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Chicago Bulls, rematch against the Denver Nuggets and two back-to-back games against the Houston Rockets. It’s is the perfect time for the Lakers to find themselves to finish the season strong.
“Could be a perfect time or not,” Luka Doncic said. “Just gotta approach those games with the same mentality. Obviously, every one of those teams has great players. They’re winning games. So we need to go game by game first of all and then just try to win all those games.”
If the Lakers are gearing up for a championship run, they will need to prove they can beat the best teams in the league.
Maybe Sunday afternoon is the start of things as they knocked off the New York Knicks 110-97 at home without LeBron James. The Lakers looked the tougher team looking to prove a point in the win.
“We played hard, stuck to the game plan and competed,” guard Austin Reaves said. “That’s what it came down to. I thought we played harder than them and we set the tone early and had a really good third quarter.”
With a tough stretch ahead Los Angeles will look to improve their conference ranking and prove to the league and themselves that they truly are contenders.