The NBA regular season is officially in the books, and the Lakers are finally at full strength! Which is fortunate, because they're gonna need all hands on deck and healthy for a play-in game vs. the Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry. At stake? The seven seed, and a first round matchup against the Phoenix Suns. LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Dennis Schröder were back in the starting lineup, and save LeBron's minor (?) ankle tweak during Sunday's win over the Pelicans, looked like themselves. For that matter, Andre Drummond is also appearing more comfortable in his projected role as a high-end role player. Still, the team may have momentum heading into the playoffs, but their continuity is nonetheless lacking. With that in mind, would an opponent be better off facing the Lakers earlier in the playoffs rather than later? Reserve forward/postgame interview specialist Jared Dudley thinks so.

Hosts: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: A health rundown for the Lakers' top 3 scorers. LeBron has looked far better than during his previous unsuccessful return from a high ankle sprain, but tweaked again it on Sunday. Andy didn't think it was a particularly big deal, but Brian is concerned. Davis doesn't appear to be laboring physically at all. Schröder played better as the weekend progressed, but confused everyone during his postgame media session when he addressed his situation in the Covid health and safety protocol.

SEGMENT 2: Drummond's transition with the Lakers hasn't been particularly smooth, but the last several games have been very promising, especially playing alongside the projected starting lineup. Has he actually discovered a groove and role that works?

SEGMENT 3: There's a narrative among basketball observers that teams around the league were tanking games to avoid having to see the Lakers early. Dudley thinks it's a mistake. The Kamenetzkys discuss.

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