LeBron James gets real on the lineup with him, Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Anthony Davis.

Lakers coach Darvin Ham has been reluctant to use the lineup that made a run to the Conference Finals last year, but he brought it out last night during the Lakers’ 145-144 win over the Golden State Warriors. Predictably, the lineup was very effective in the minutes together and LeBron James explained why in the post-game chat with the media.

“We just have chemistry and we have a lot of minutes logged together, so we know what we want to do,” James said, via The Athletic. “It’s a team that was in the Western Conference finals last year and made some plays in the second round and things of that nature so, with myself, AR, Vando, D-Lo and AD, we just, we know where everybody is at and we work well together.”

The Lakers were reeling last season before the Russell Westbrook trade and, at one point, were on track to finish as the worst team in the West. A series of mid-season deals saved the Lakers’ season and gave their stars the tools they needed to succeed. While it wasn’t enough to go all the way last time, the Lakers will need to use that lineup more if they want a better outcome for this season.

Lakers Showing Signs Of Life
At 24-23 on the season, the Los Angeles Lakers are obviously not where they were hoping to be in the standings. LeBron James and Anthony Davis have been mostly healthy so far, but the supporting cast has been inconsistent all year with varying levels of play. Recently, things have looked up for the Purple and Gold, more specifically for D’Angelo Russell, who has come alive in recent weeks due to red-hot shooting. His rise back to being an elite perimeter shooter has opened up the floor for LA, and they are taking full advantage.

After their win over the Warriors on Saturday, the Lakers moved to 9th in the West as winners of 6 in their last 10 games. LeBron James, 39, is coming off, perhaps, the best regular-season game of his career with 36 points, 20 rebounds, and 12 assists on the night. So, even with as bad as things looked a while ago, the sense is things are stabilizing for the Lakers and Rob Pelinka may have a move up his sleeve that will bring them up another level.

Are Lakers Contenders?
Last year, we all saw for ourselves why it’s not smart to underestimate the Lakers. Even as they struggled to play consistent basketball, they never gave up on the season and were able to rally down the stretch to put together a solid campaign. Over the summer, the Lakers doubled down on their team by surrounding their core guys with additional role players like Cam Reddish, Taurean Prince, and Christian Wood.

At their best, the Lakers can take on any team in any situation but it remains to be seen if they can overcome top-level opponents like the Thunder, Timberwolves, and the defending champion Denver Nuggets. At the very least, as long as LeBron and Davis are active, the Lakers cannot be counted out and they demand to be taken seriously by Western contenders.