Win and they’d control their fate to secure at least the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference, with the possibility of moving up the standings with a strong close to the season. Lose and they’d be dependent on external help to avoid finishing the regular season in 10th place.

The latter are the circumstances the Lakers (45-35) now face after their 134-120 loss to the Warriors (44-35), their final home game of the regular season.

“We don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves,” Coach Darvin Ham said. “We gotta get our bootstraps together and get back on the drawing board, look at the film and try to make the best of these last two games.”

The Warriors, who made 26 of their 41 3-point shots – including an astonishing 16 of 23 from Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green – moved within one-half game of the Lakers in the standings. Golden State now holds the head-to-head tiebreaker despite the regular-season series ending tied at 2-all because the Warriors have a better in-division win-loss record. That gives them the inside track to home-court advantage if the teams meet in a potential 9-10 play-in game next week.

LeBron James, who has been dealing with flu-like symptoms for the last few days and missed Sunday’s home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, tried to will the Lakers to a victory despite being under the weather, recording 33 points (14-for-22 shooting), 11 assists and seven rebounds in 35 minutes.

“Bron was phenomenal going through what he’s been through the last 48 hours,” Ham said. “He came out and gave his all. We had some good looks that didn’t go down. Shots we normally make, it’s a make-or-miss league. He did everything in his power to try to will the team back to a win. And it just didn’t work out, we fell short.”

Austin Reaves had 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists, while Rui Hachimura added 20 points (7-for-21 shooting), 11 rebounds and two blocked shots. D’Angelo Russell struggled to 14 points on 3-of-11 shooting.

James arrived at the arena a little an hour before tipoff and didn’t go through an on-court warmup on the team’s home court.

“Just tried to get as much rest as I could,” James said. “Stay hydrated as much as I could. I came in Sunday for my normal prep day for the Minnesota game and it started to get worse as the minutes went down. So I just went home. And pretty much [Tuesday] was like one of the first days I was able to get out of the room, get out of the bed and feel a little bit of energy. And I guess well enough to be able to come here and try to help the team.”

But the challenge of beating the Warriors, who have won eight of their last nine games, without Anthony Davis was too difficult for the Lakers to overcome. Davis sat out due to the aftereffects (headache, nausea) of being hit in the head by Minnesota’s Kyle Anderson in the Lakers’ loss to the Timberwolves on Sunday.

“We know we’re as good as any team in the league when we’re whole – and when we’re not, we’re not,” James said. “It’s hard for us to make up, especially having a guy like A.D. not playing. It’s almost pretty much impossible to make up for what he provides for our ballclub, both offensively and defensively.”

The Lakers missed a chance to move into eighth place past struggling Sacramento (45-34), which blew a big second-half lead and lost to Oklahoma City. And now the Lakers need outside help to ensure they don’t fall further down the standings.

If the Warriors win their final three regular-season games, then they’ll jump ahead of the Lakers in the standings even if the Lakers win their final two games on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday and the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.

The Warriors, led by Thompson’s 27 points (10-for-16 shooting) and Curry’s 23 points (7-for-9 shooting), eight assists and seven rebounds, controlled the game from the outset.

Their 63.4% shooting from behind the arc is an NBA record for any team with at least 40 attempts, and the Warriors’ 26 3-point baskets are the most any Lakers team has ever allowed in a single game.

“They had guys step up and make shots,” Ham said. “It’s a make-or-miss league, and it is what it is. It’s a tough loss for sure. They put a lot of pressure on your defense, not having A.D. back there as just our conductor, just communicating and moving around, obviously very tough.”

The Warriors made 12 of their first 17 3-point attempts, and they shot 20 for 32 from behind the arc in the first three quarters overall.

Green (15 points, 10 assists, six rebounds) made five first-half 3-pointers to help the Warriors lead by double-digits for most of the first half. Andrew Wiggins had 17 points.

“Tip your cap to them,” James said. “You go out with a game plan and they exploit the gameplan, you tip your cap. And [Green] definitely messed with our game plan with him shooting the ball the way he did in the first half. But a team makes 26 3s, it’s gonna be hard to beat them.”

The Warriors scored 10 consecutive points in the final 1:23 of the third quarter to open a 17-point lead. The Lakers cut the deficit to single digits multiple times during the game, but 106-98 was the closest they got in the fourth.

Even after a decade as the coach of a scoring machine, Warriors coach Steve Kerr can still be impressed by his Big Three.

“I didn’t feel like we played that well, but we made a million 3s,” Kerr said. “The ball was going in, but I didn’t think we were sharp. A lot of possessions where we weren’t just quite locked in and we were a little bit disjointed, but the ball kept going in. … To shoot 63% from 3, that’s crazy.”

Davis isn’t in the concussion protocol, Ham said, but the All-Star big man missed a key game after largely avoiding serious injuries all season for the first time in a half-decade.

The Lakers fell to 2-4 without Davis this season, not counting two losses in which he played only the first quarter due to head blows.

LeBron James speaks about the impact of Anthony Davis' absence, tonight's loss, and provides an update on his illness. pic.twitter.com/zvDcWYxYZW

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) April 10, 2024

Darvin Ham on the Warriors: "They had guys step up and hit shots… the guys you wanted shooting the ball made their shots." pic.twitter.com/zpW6dkno1x

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) April 10, 2024

Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves on the Lakers’ loss against the Warriors. pic.twitter.com/a2dkdaW11e

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) April 10, 2024

Among the typos/errors on the statue that were fixed: former Lakers guard Von Wafer’s name being misspelled on the box score of the marble base of the statue; former Toronto Raptors guard José Calderón’s name being misspelled on the box score; and the word “decision” in “Coach’s Decision” being misspelled.

A formatting error related to Bryant’s Olympic gold medals was also fixed on the front of the base and Bryant’s facsimile signature was recreated to read “Kobe,” rather than “Kobe 24,” since the statue shows Bryant wearing his white, No. 8 Lakers uniform.

German basketball journalist André Voigt shared photos of the errors on March 11 on X (formerly known as Twitter), with the post going viral. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin first reported that the errors were fixed Tuesday morning.

The name of the statue’s sculptor, Julie Rotblatt Amrany, was also added to the base.

The Lakers unveiled the 19-foot, 4,000-pound statue of the late superstar on Feb. 8.

Vanessa Bryant, Kobe’s widow, said during the dedication ceremony last month that the statue, which depicts Kobe in his No. 8 jersey with his right index finger raised as he walked off the court following his 81-point performance in a victory over the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006, is the first of three that will be created to honor the five-time NBA champion, who retired in 2016.

Another statue will feature Bryant in his No. 24 jersey, which he wore for the second half of his career, while a third will depict Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, who died with him and seven others in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020, in Calabasas. The planned locations and unveiling dates for the other two statues have yet to be announced.

LeBRON IN, A.D. OUT

LeBron James was available against the Warriors despite experiencing flu-like symptoms, while Anthony Davis was sidelined because of a headache and nausea, the Lakers announced two hours before tipoff.

Davis only played the first quarter of Sunday’s 127-117 home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves after Kyle Anderson hit Davis on the left eye with his forearm on a Davis putback dunk with 25 seconds left in the quarter.

The hit aggravated the eye injury Davis suffered in a March 16 home loss to the Warriors after getting hit by Golden State rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis, which led to Davis only playing first-quarter minutes in that game, too.

“Just a super-big game, obviously,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said pregame. “He showed up to the arena trying to do everything he could to play but he just couldn’t quite overcome the headache and the nausea.

“But at the end of the day, next man up. It’s next man up. We need everybody just doing it together. Not one individual trying to take everything on their shoulders. Just stay connected as a group on both sides of the ball.”

James didn’t play against the Timberwolves because of the flu-like symptoms. He showed up to the arena on Sunday for his pregame process before heading back home before the game started.

James arrived at the arena a little over an hour before tipoff on Tuesday.

“Just a lot of rest and fluids,” Ham said of James’ progression from Sunday to Tuesday. “A lot of rest and fluids.”

That will be magnified in their final regular-season home game when they host the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena – a matchup with significant postseason implications.

After Sunday’s 127-117 home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in which LeBron James wasn’t available because of flu-like symptoms and Anthony Davis only played the first quarter after aggravating a left eye injury, the ninth-place Lakers (45-34) are just 1½ games ahead of the 10th-place Warriors (43-35) with one week left in the regular season.

Davis aggravated the eye injury he suffered in the March 16 home loss to the Warriors after getting hit by Golden State rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis, which led to Davis only playing first-quarter minutes in that game, too.

His official injury was a corneal abrasion.

“I just couldn’t see,” Davis said of the original eye injury. “The corneal abrasion was actually right in the middle of my eye. It wasn’t like off to the side. So anytime I looked it was blurry. My eye was swollen. I thought my eye was open. But it wasn’t. It kept watering. It just felt like sand was in my eye. So it was just better closed and I couldn’t really see.

“The swelling went down. I just kind of stayed in darkness. And then went to go see the doctor and some more things that we ended up finding out. But it was really tough for me to see.”

Davis played in the Lakers’ next game after originally suffering the eye injury, a March 18 home win over the Hawks. He’s expected to be available against the Warriors on Tuesday. James’ status isn’t known.

“Just get healthy first,” forward Rui Hachimura said. “We’ve got to recover. We’ve been on the road and had a back-to-back right away. We got to rest [Monday]. That’s going to be the key. We’ve gotta bring the energy back.”

The Lakers have a 2-1 lead over the Warriors in the season series.

If they win on Tuesday, they’ll own the tiebreaker, which is relevant if both teams finish with the same regular-season record.

If the Warriors win Tuesday and the regular-season series ends tied two apiece, then the Lakers would be dependent on the Warriors to lose at least one of their final three games – or any of the teams above them in the standings – to avoid ending the regular season 10th in the West. The Warriors would clinch the tiebreaker over the Lakers with a win on Tuesday because they’d have a better in-division record.

Both teams have clinched top-10 records in the West and are guaranteed to at least be in the play-in tournament.

But Tuesday’s matchup will significantly impact how much higher either team can climb in the standings, and who will end the season at No. 10 (and would then need to win two road games just to earn the No. 8 seed).

WARRIORS AT LAKERS

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.

Where: Crypto.com Arena

TV/radio: Spectrum Sports Net/710 AM

But once they lost their other best player, the challenge became too difficult to overcome, leading to the Lakers falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-117 at Crypto.com Arena.

With LeBron James sidelined and Anthony Davis playing only the first quarter because of an eye injury, the Lakers fell to 45-34 on the season, despite Rui Hachimura leading the team with 30 points.

“For every team, when your best two players [are out],” the Lakers’ Jaxson Hayes said, “it definitely hurts.”

Davis left between the first and second quarters after Kyle Anderson hit Davis on the left eye with his forearm on a Davis putback dunk with 25 seconds left in the first. It was the same eye Davis injured in the March 16 home loss to the Golden State Warriors, resulting in Davis only playing in the first quarter that game.

Sunday played out similarly.

Davis remained in the locker room for the entire second quarter before the team ruled him out shortly before halftime started.

He finished with four points, four rebounds and three assists in 12 minutes, with the Lakers leading 37-33 when Davis left the game. James wasn’t available because of flu-like symptoms.

ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported that Davis is expected to be available for Tuesday’s home game against the Golden State Warriors.

The Lakers initially didn’t hold up well without Davis, surrendering a 46-27 second quarter that allowed the Timberwolves to take a 79-64 lead into halftime. Minnesota’s lead grew to 84-64 early in the third.

“He’s extremely valuable,” coach Darvin Ham said of Davis. “Everyone around here knows that. Everything he brings on both sides of the ball, it’s tough. Already being without Bron and seeing him go out, it’s tough.”

The Lakers stormed back behind the energetic play of Jaxson Hayes, who started the second half in place of Davis. Hayes had four dunks in the third, contributing to his season-high 19 points to go with 10 rebounds and a career-high five steals.

“He was amazing,” Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell said of Hayes. “He’s gonna make a lot of money this summer being on this main stage all these nights. Teams get to see him dominate his minutes. Been playing behind AD all season and whenever he gets just a little bit of time, he dominates it. So just kudos to him. He’s been hanging in there all year. He’s been doing everything we need him to do.”

The Lakers cut their deficit to 94-90 with less than two minutes left in the third after a Cam Reddish corner 3-pointer.

But they didn’t get any closer, with the Timberwolves controlling the fourth before Ham took his rotation players out with his team down 126-111 with two minutes left.

“My hat’s off to our guys,” Ham said. “They didn’t feel sorry for themselves. They kept competing all the way through. Just had some unfortunate possessions offensively, couldn’t make shots we normally make.”

Naz Reid led the Timberwolves (54-24) with a 31-point, 11-rebound double-double, while Anthony Edwards had 26 points and eight assists. Reid averaged 18.3 points on 54.1% shooting (47.6% on 3s) against the Lakers this season.

“I don’t know man, but we got to figure it out though,” Ham said of Reid. “We could see these guys again in the postseason so we have to figure it out.”

Spencer Dinwiddie, who started in place of James, finished with 18 points (4-for-7 shooting), seven assists and five rebounds. Russell (15 points on 5-for-19 shooting to go with 11 assists and seven rebounds) and Austin Reaves (14 points on 4-for-14 shooting) struggled with their shots.

The Lakers will get Monday off before their final regular-season home game against the Warriors.

James entered the matchup as questionable because of left ankle peroneal tendinopathy before being ruled out because of the illness.

“He came to start his process [Sunday] and I think he left early,” coach Darvin Ham said. “He just wasn’t feeling well.”

Spencer Dinwiddie started in place of James alongside D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Anthony Davis.

Sunday was the second of a back-to-back set, with the Lakers beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-97 on Saturday afternoon at Crypto.com Arena.

James had 24 points, 12 assists and five rebounds in 36 minutes against the Cavaliers.

Ham assured that James, who was available for both games of the Lakers’ last back-to-back set – road wins over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday and Washington Wizards on Wednesday –  didn’t miss the game because of any lingering injury.

“It was more viral, stomach virus, as opposed to an injury to his body,” Ham said. “So, nah, I don’t think that played anything into it.”

The Lakers entered Sunday 6-4 in games James hasn’t played – the first time a team James has played on has had a .500-or-better record in games he doesn’t play since the 2012-13 Miami Heat.

“Everybody knows what they’re capable of,” Ham said of the team’s success without James. “And we encourage that from all of our guys. And when Bron is out of the lineup, obviously, we know we’re much better with him than without him. But I think we’ve been able to have success just because guys just stepping up and trying to be even more team-oriented in terms of getting the responsibilities that are out there done effectively.

“Not individually. ‘Well, I’m gonna get all of his shots.’ Having that type of mentality. They spread the wealth on both sides of the ball and cover for one another defensively. It speaks to the talent level of our team as well. Obviously, there’s a drop-off without him. But other guys step up. We have guys more than capable of holding their water.”

Lakers guard Gabe Vincent wasn’t available against the Timberwolves because of left knee injury management.

He returned from left knee surgery in the March 31 road win over the Brooklyn Nets, not playing both games of a back-to-back set since returning. Vincent played 14 minutes against the Cavaliers on Saturday.

REAVES’ ASSIGNMENT

Reaves again was tasked with guarding a top scoring option, matched up against All-Star guard Anthony Edwards on Sunday.

He’s been their primary point-of-attack defender for the past two months.

Despite his physical limitations, he’s thrived in the role.

“Whether you’re tall, short, heavy-set, skinny, it doesn’t matter, as long as you’re a competitor, you can make things work,” Ham said. “And he prides himself on being a two-way player. Just not all offense. He competes. Some of the plays he make, just covering for his teammates on the ball. His scrappiness. Taking charges. Whatever it involves, he’s competing at a high level.

“That has a lot to do with it. When guys see their teammates competing like that, fighting, trying, maybe they don’t look the part but he’s getting the results because he’s a high-level competitor. And so that tends to rub off. Both he and Rui have drawn some incredibly tough matchups. But they don’t moan, they don’t complain. They just go out there and compete.”

And they continued to help themselves Saturday, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-97 in a matinee matchup at Crypto.com Arena to move up the Western Conference standings.

The Lakers’ victory, their ninth in 10 games, moved them to 45-33 on the season and into the No. 8 spot in the West standings for the first time since Dec. 29, a half-game ahead of the Sacramento Kings, who lost to the Boston Celtics on Friday.

“It’s what we’ve been saying, whether it’s a game day or a non-game day, just take care of us,” coach Darvin Ham said. “Continuously look for ways to get better individually, collectively. Got to have that open dialogue. Just take care of us. That’s the biggest thing. Everything else will take care of itself, [and] will fall exactly in the spot we’re supposed to fall. But the key is for us to be playing at a high level on both sides of the ball. We saw that on the defensive end [Saturday].”

The Lakers are also just a half-game out of the No. 7 spot behind the New Orleans Pelicans, who’ve lost four consecutive games after their home loss to the lowly San Antonio Spurs on Friday.

“It’s just continue to focus on one game at a time and continue to try to win games and let the rest take care of itself,” Anthony Davis said. “We know the position that we’re in and the opportunity that we have. [Saturday] was a big opportunity to move up to eighth, which we did, but what’s understood doesn’t have to be explained.

“And we all know the position that we’re in and what we can do with four games left. So, just keep stacking, keep focusing on one game at a time and continue doing what we’re doing, especially on the defensive end.”

Matinee games can be challenging for veteran squads, with the early tipoffs requiring adjusting to gameday routines and energy earlier in the day than players are used to.

But Ham wasn’t worried about how his team’s focusing coming into Saturday after a 5-1 road trip.

“We’ll be ready to play,” Ham said. “I promise you that.”

The Lakers delivered.

LeBron James led the Lakers with 24 points, 12 assists and five rebounds. D’Angelo Russell had it going offensively, scoring 28 points on 11-for-17 shooting (6 for 12 on 3-pointers) to go with five rebounds.

Anthony Davis had 22 points, 13 rebounds, six blocks, four assists and three steals, leading a Lakers defense that disrupted the Cavaliers for nearly the entire game.

The Cavaliers (46-32) committed 19 turnovers for 26 Lakers points. The Lakers had 11 blocks and 11 steals, just the second time they’ve finished in double figures in both marks.

Taurean Prince added 18 points off the Lakers’ bench.

The Lakers controlled the early parts of the game, winning the first quarter 36-33 and the second 29-23 to take a 65-56 lead into halftime after leading by as many as 16 points in the second quarter. Russell had 23 first-half points.

A plethora of third-quarter turnovers (six) allowed the Cavaliers to take a 73-69 lead in the third. But the Lakers responded by scoring 19 unanswered points to go up 88-73. They led by double digits for the remainder of the game.

Saturday was the Lakers’ 21st win in their past 29 games.

“We’re confident, very confident in our ballclub and any time we step on the floor,” Davis said. “The biggest difference is just that we’re just having fun. We’re holding each other accountable. If somebody messes up, we’re yelling, screaming at him. But nobody is taking it [personally]. Because we all know what we’re here for, to try to win.”

The Cavaliers were led by Darius Garland’s 26 points.

The Lakers will return to Crypto.com Arena on Sunday to host the Minnesota Timberwolves.

But recently, the Lakers have provided the perimeter help needed to take advantage of Davis’ All-Defensive caliber season.

Saturday’s 116-97 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers was the latest example.

“The things we’ve been talking about, being better on the ball, guys just not dependent on AD to clean up everything and allowing themselves to be blown by,” coach Darvin Ham said postgame. “Just being great on the ball. We had some great performances defensively from several guys.”

Davis’ 13 rebounds (nine defensive) six blocks and three steals, to go with his 22 points and four assists, led the Lakers defensively.

But the perimeter defense – especially from D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Spencer Dinwiddie – made Davis’ job easier.

Instead of having to cover for his teammates, they’re enhancing what Davis does on the inside by cutting off driving lanes or staying attached to their defensive assignments.

“It keeps me around the rim on the bigs,” Davis said. “Where now, our guards aren’t trying to box out bigs, where the other team’s bigs have an advantage. So, when our guards are guarding how they are on the perimeter – keeping the ball in front, making guys take tough 2s or tough shots, it’s easy for me to stay connected and I don’t have to help as much.

“So now, myself, Rui [Hachimura], [LeBron James], we can go get the rebound and get out and run. So, the time that’s tough is when you get beat and now I have to step up and they’re throwing the lob or they’re dumping it off and we’re not reacting fast enough. Or we’re just too small because our guards are small. So, anytime we’re able to guard how we’ve been guarding, then it helps our defense.”

The Lakers have benefited from the improved perimeter defense, having a 107.1 defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) in their last 10 games, which ranks fifth in the league.

The return of Gabe Vincent has also helped the Lakers’ perimeter defense.

“He was at the top of the list of guys being great on the ball,” Ham said. “Gabe, just his quiet toughness, his quiet leadership. The pedigree he brings. Everyone saw what he was able to do with Miami last year. The impact he had on that club and how far they went, all the way to the Finals. We expect the same performance and even more out of him.

“He’s a guy that’s not worried about how many shots he gets or how many touches. He wants to make his mark felt on the defensive end. I felt like he did that.”

RUSSELL’S RECORD

With his six 3-pointers, Russell, who’s already made the most 3s in a single season in franchise history, further distanced himself from the pack.

Russell is at 218 3s on the season, 35 more than the 183 Nick Van Exel made during the 1994-95 season that set the Lakers’ record.

He’s 16 3s away from tying his single-season record of 234, which he set with the Brooklyn Nets in 2018-19.

“Just you come in and you make the focus about us,” Coach Davin Ham said after practice. “No disrespect to any of our opponents, but just some things we saw along the way on the course of the trip and some things we’ve been doing really, really well.

“Just trying to sustain the stuff we’re doing good and then trying to touch on every step of the things that we need to clean up.”

With just five games left in the regular season, including hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves in a back-to-back set this weekend, here are five things to keep an eye on with the Lakers (44-33):

1. TWO-WAY BALANCE

After months of toggling between high-level play on either – but not both – ends of the court, the Lakers are starting to strike a better offensive/defensive balance.

Their 120.2 offensive rating (points scored per 100 possessions) and 115.5 defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) in March ranked fourth and 18th for the month, according to Cleaning The Glass. It’s the closest the Lakers have gotten to rating at least average on both ends of the floor – a necessary recipe to be a threat in the play-in tournament, let alone the playoffs.

Over their last nine games, the Lakers have been sixth in offense (119.8) and fifth in defense (109.3). The quality of opponents dipped during this recent stretch, but the Lakers have started to round into form.

2. VANDERBILT’S STATUS

Forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who has been sidelined since early February because of a sprained right midfoot injury that he suffered in the Lakers’ Feb. 1 road win against the Boston Celtics, is expected to be reevaluated early next week.

He’s played just 29 games this season after missing the first seven weeks because of a left heel injury.

But even with the Lakers trending upward over the last couple of months, it’s clear they’ve missed his presence, especially defensively and as a rebounder.

“I hope it turns out well,” Ham said of Vanderbilt’s expected reevaluation. “The thing I will say is just his workouts have been very positive. The results of them, how he’s been feeling coming out of them, it’s been really positive.”

Ham said Vanderbilt went through an individual workout on Friday and “wasn’t involved in any of the team stuff.”

3. STANDINGS WATCH

Despite winning eight of their past nine games, and 20 of their last 28 dating to Feb. 1, the Lakers haven’t been able to ascend higher than ninth place in the Western Conference standings.

They entered Friday one game behind the eighth-place Sacramento Kings and 1½ games behind the New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix Suns, who were tied for the sixth and seventh spots.

“Every game is going to be important,” forward Rui Hachimura said. “We can’t lose one game. It’s one at a time but I think we have five games left? So we’re trying to get all of them and we’ll see how that goes. We’re in a good position right now, so we just got to keep going.”

4. OFFENSIVE SETS

The Lakers have used the season’s final stretch to incorporate or reintroduce offensive sets from earlier in the season.

The success of the sets will be monitored, especially for a potential postseason playbook.

“You look at the trends, you look at what’s been successful, you look at the numbers that are provided to you and the success rate of it, and the combination of players,” Ham said. “And you try to expose that for the better and greater good of the team. So that’s all it’s been, just looking at different combinations, two-man games, three-man games, certain lineups that have been high on the plus-minus side.

“It’s been great. It’s just a lot of stuff we have already in our package. It’s just a matter of exploring it.”

CAVALIERS AT LAKERS

When: Saturday, 12:30 p.m.

Where: Crypto.com Arena

TV/radio: Spectrum Sports Net/710 AM

“I don’t even know where to start! I tried to wait until Saturday … but I just can’t hold the news,” Johnson posted on X (formerly known as Twitter). “I’m so so thrilled that my Showtime running mate and one of my best friends Michael Cooper has been elected into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame!!”

Lakers great James Worthy, another former teammate of Cooper’s, also posted a congratulatory post about Cooper’s expected induction into the Hall of Fame.

The 1986-87 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Cooper was named to eight NBA All-Defensive Teams, including being named a first-team selection five times.

The Los Angeles native, a former Pasadena High and Pasadena City College star, was a third-round draft pick (60th overall) of the Lakers out of the University of New Mexico. He spent his entire 12-year NBA career (1978-90) with the Lakers.

Cooper, Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were the only three players with the Lakers for all five of their NBA championships (1980, ‘82, ‘85, ‘87-88) during the “Showtime” era. Cooper joins Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar and Worthy and Coach Pat Riley as “Showtime” representatives in the Hall of Fame.

Cooper will be the 31st player to wear a Lakers uniform and get elected to the Hall of Fame.

Cooper, who was previously named a Hall of Fame finalist in 2021 and 2022, averaged 8.9 points, 4.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game during his 12-season NBA career.

Johnson continued: “Coop is the greatest defensive player I’ve ever seen in the NBA – and I would know because I went up against him every single day in practice! His play on the offensive end was strong too. He was an excellent point guard and 3-point shooting threat.

“He was mentally and physically tough, which made him such an amazing teammate. And I can’t forget about our special [alley-oops], aka the Coop-a-Loop! I loved throwing him those high lobs, which always sent the Forum into a frenzy! I’m so happy for Michael, his wife Yvonne, and his kids for this well-deserved honor and Laker Nation should be ecstatic as well! Cookie and I can’t wait to support Coop at the Hall of Fame ceremony.”

Cooper entered the coaching ranks following his playing career. He earned WNBA Coach of the Year accolades in 2000 with the Sparks before winning back-to-back WNBA titles in 2001-02.

Jerry West reportedly will also be entering the Hall of Fame, for the third time, as a contributor to the game. The entire 2024 Hall of Fame class will officially be announced on Saturday in Phoenix during the NCAA men’s Final Four, with the enshrinement taking place Aug. 16-17 in Springfield, Mass.

West will again be enshrined into the Hall of Fame, but this time as a contributor to the game, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday.

West has already been inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player (1979) and as a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic team (2010).

The contributor enshrinement will honor his work as a general manager with the Lakers (1982-2000) and Memphis Grizzlies (2002-07), in addition to his time as a consultant with the Golden State Warriors (2011-17) and Clippers (2017-present).

He was named Executive of the Year twice (1995, 2004) as a GM and has totaled 10 NBA championships as an executive.

West, who is credited with being the architect of the Lakers’ dynasties during the 1980s and 2000s, was a scout for the Lakers for three seasons (1979-1982) before becoming the general manager. The Lakers drafted Magic Johnson and James Worthy, acquired Kobe Bryant, signed Shaquille O’Neal and hired Phil Jackson as the team’s head coach during West’s time as an executive with the franchise. He totaled eight NBA titles with the Lakers as an executive (1980, ’82, ’85, ’87-88, 2000-02).

He won two additional NBA championships as an executive with the Warriors (2015, ’17) before joining the Clippers in 2017. West is regularly seen sitting in a baseline seat at the Clippers’ home games.

The Class of 2024 will officially be announced on April 6 in Phoenix during the NCAA men’s Final Four, with the enshrinement taking place Aug. 16-17 in Springfield, Mass.