EL SEGUNDO — The Lakers and Golden State Warriors played each other three times in the span of six weeks earlier in the season from Dec. 25 to Feb. 6 – all of them Lakers’ victories – which should have helped provide familiarity with each other.
But after the significant roster changes both teams have experienced since their last matchup, a 120-112 Lakers win just hours after the league’s trade deadline had passed, Thursday night’s matchup at Crypto.com Arena will offer a fresh perspective on a potential playoff matchup.
Lakers star Luka Doncic wasn’t in the lineup the last time these teams squared off, still four days away from making his team debut after being sidelined for 6½ weeks because of a strained left calf.
Jimmy Butler wasn’t available either, with Golden State agreeing to terms on the multi-team trade that landed them the 35-year-old former Miami Heat star on Feb, 5, with the deal not becoming official until two hours before the last Lakers-Warriors matchup started.
“He’s gonna be going out there ready to prove something,” Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht said after Wednesday’s practice. “So it’ll be fun just to go out there and compete.”
The Warriors have been rejuvenated since Butler’s arrival.
They are 19-5 since Butler made his debut for the team on Feb. 8, including 19-4 in the 23 games when Butler has been in the lineup.
Golden State has surged up the Western Conference standings since the last time the Lakers (46-29) and Warriors (44-31) matched up, going from 10th place with a sub-.500 record (25-26) after their last loss to the Lakers to fifth after beating the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night.
With just seven games left in the regular season, the Lakers enter the matchup two games ahead of the Warriors for the No. 4 spot and a half-game behind the Denver Nuggets for No. 3 after Denver’s dramatic double-overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.
“Jimmy’s just such a competitor and everyone knows that,” Lakers center Jaxson Hayes said. “We see what he’s done with Miami the past few years, so just changed the whole game.
“We gotta deal with him and Draymond [Green], two very big competitors and obviously Steph [Curry] is Steph. It definitely brings a lot of differences and more energy to the game, I’d say.”
With two days off between Monday’s home win against the Houston Rockets and Thursday’s marquee matchup against the Warriors, which is the first night of a back-to-back set with the Lakers also hosting the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday, the Lakers were able to have a rare late-season practice on Wednesday.
It was their first practice in Southern California since Feb. 24.
The Lakers have spoken about building up their “playoff mentality,” as Coach JJ Redick put it, and habits with the regular season winding down.
And with Thursday being the third consecutive matchup against a Western Conference opponent looking to solidify its spot in the playoff race, the Lakers understood what Wednesday’s focus needed to be.
“There are two things: it’s building the playoff mentality but it’s also building the playoff preparation – which was what [Wednesday] was about,” Redick said. “We haven’t had many opportunities to build that prep mentality and we’ll look for every opportunity when we do get court time.
“That’s really what this time of the year is about, getting ready for, hopefully, what is a very challenging, competitive, emotional environment but also having the days in between be sharp mentally.”
WARRIORS AT LAKERS
When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV/radio: TNT/710 AM