LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach JJ Redick didn’t want to overstate the importance of the next few weeks for his team. But he couldn’t help but acknowledge the “enormity,” as he put it, of the Lakers’ final 16 regular-season games ahead of Monday night’s home game against the San Antonio Spu rs. As the Lakers found out the hard way, one injury-riddled bad week can be the difference between being in second place in the Western Conference standings and falling to fifth. So even with the team remaining without two-fifths of its starting lineup (LeBron James, Rui Hachimura), and the Spurs being without their two best players (Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox), Redick acknowledged the growth the Lakers have made over the last 2½ months in these situations. “Our group,” Redick said, “for the most part has been very professional.” Consider Monday’s 125-109 victory over the Spurs at Crypto.com Arena in light of what Redick was looking for. Despite star Luka Doncic struggling with his shots (5 for 20 overall, 1 for 7 from 3-point range), the Lakers (42-25) pulled off the near wire-to-wire victory with contributions from nearly every available player in a game that was rescheduled from Jan. 11 because of the wildfires. “We played hard and stuck to the game plan through the end of the game and we continued to build that chemistry,” Austin Reaves said. “You can tell by the way we’re playing. Everybody is sharing the ball. Luka causes so much havoc for teams’ defenses that the majority of the time you got to blitz him and then you’re playing four-on-three. “It’s just a fun brand of basketball and after a long road trip that we were really bad on, it’s good to get home and get back to winning.” Reaves (30 points, seven rebounds and six assists) led the team in scoring with his fourth consecutive game scoring at least 28 points. He only reached 28 points four times in the Lakers’ first 63 games this season. “This guy just scored 30 in his fourth game in five days,” Doncic said of Reaves. “That explains everything. He’s an amazing player. For him to go undrafted is unbelievable. And, it’s not easy to go undrafted and play at this level. It’s amazing just to be by his side.” Doncic offset his rough night from the field by getting himself to the free-throw line (10 for 13) and setting up his teammates often to finish just shy of a triple-double: 21 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds. “People start learning that at some point in the game, they’re going to double-team me,” Doncic said. “I accept that and I like playing that. It saves my energy. We just get to play four-on-three. Guys are doing great out of that.” In addition to making the hustle plays that have become normal for them in Lakers uniforms, Jordan Goodwin (15 points on 6-of-9 shooting) and Dorian Finney-Smith (15 points on 5-of-12 shooting) were in a strong shooting rhythm. They combined for 7-of-12 shooting from behind the arc, making more than a third of the Lakers’ 19 3-pointers. “They ran a bunch of pick-and-roll coverages, trying to guard Luka and A.R.,” Finney-Smith said. “It just opened up shots for me, Gabe [Vincent], Goodie. It’s a good overall win.” Reaves scored nine points in a 3½-minute stretch while the Lakers opened a 28-point lead in the third quarter. San Antonio responded with a 15-0 run, but never got the deficit to single digits. “There were stretches that we played good defensively,” said Redick, whose team improved to 7-3 in the second game of back-to-back sets this season. “We lost our way at the end of the third, start of the fourth, when they went on that run. But the way we were able to generate good offense, I think it was 48 3s and 34 were uncontested … our offensive decision-making and consistency where we had four really good offensive quarters was great.” Jaxson Hayes, playing in his second game since returning from a bruised right knee that sidelined him for four games, once again made a difference at the rim, finishing with nine points, 11 rebounds, three assists, a pair of steals and a blocked shot. Dalton Knecht (13 points) and Vincent (11 points) combined for 24 of the Lakers’ 35 bench points – a figure that was boosted by both teams playing their end-of-bench players for the final 2:30. Stephon Castle had 23 points and eight rebounds and Devin Vassell added 17 points (15 before halftime) and eight rebounds for the Spurs, who have lost five of seven. Jarred Vanderbilt and Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (15 points) were ejected with 6:27 remaining after both were given double technical fouls for their altercation, during which Sochan threw the ball at Vanderbilt after a foul and Vanderbilt shoved Sochan. Second-round draft pick Bronny James made a 3-pointer one minute after subbing in as part of the Lakers’ end-of-bench unit. UP NEXT The Lakers have another challenging back-to-back coming up, hosting the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night and the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night. Related Articles Lakers | Lakers’ JJ Redick lauds Spurs’ Chris Paul for still playing Lakers | Lakers get closer to being whole with Jaxson Hayes’ return Lakers | Lakers beat Suns to end season-worst 4-game losing streak Lakers | Lakers look to get well and get over winless road trip Lakers | Short-handed Lakers nearly stun Nuggets in finale of 0-4 trip ...read more read less