The Lakers, minus LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Alex Caruso and Dennis Schröder, pulled off a 124-122 win over an even more skeleton crew-ish Houston Rockets. It wasn't pretty, and definitely more complicated than necessary, but in the end, strong performances from Talen Horton-Tucker, Kyle Kuzma and Andre Drummond were enough to anchor a victory. For the time being, the Lakers are still in the running for the six seed and to potentially dodge the play-in games. Still, LeBron's continually delayed absence is... concerning. Plus, a reader question about which Lakers we are and are not confident about heading into the playoffs.

Hosts: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: At the end of the day, a win is a win is a win, and that's what the Lakers got against the Rockets. In particular, Talen Horton-Tucker's work as a floor general provided a lot of optimism for the young player's growth.

SEGMENT 2: LeBron's return remains a TBD matter, and it's grown clear he and the Lakers are surprised by this development. We're concerned, and explain why listeners who feel otherwise are just telling themselves what they want to hear.

SEGMENT 3: Which Lakers inspire confidence, no confidence, contextual confidence, upward trending confidence, or have entered a space so specifically weird it's impossible to gauge confidence? We take a deep dive into the confidence pool.

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!

Built Bar

Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.

BetOnline AG

There is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.

Rock Auto

Amazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.

Indeed

Get started RIGHT NOW with a FREE SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to upgrade your job post at Indeed.com/locked

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices