Lakers’ Jaxson Hayes, Marcus Smart keep winning streak alive

Midway through the fourth quarter, the game felt like it was slipping away. 

You could sense it in the restless murmurs and groans rolling through downtown LA’s sold-out Crypto.com Arena. The crowd had seen this movie play out before. 

The Lakers, playing against a bottom-dwelling team in the standings, build up an early double-digit lead only to see it slip away when the fourth quarter rolls around. The script looked painfully familiar. 

With 7:19 remaining Tuesday night, the Pelicans had taken a 94–86 lead, their largest of the game. The Lakers had just finished a flurry of missed rotations, careless turnovers and nonstop arguing with the referees.

They looked lost. They were minutes away from falling further in the Western Conference standings and into the dreaded play-in line. 

That’s when Lakers’ head coach JJ Redick called a timeout and made the smallest change on the whiteboard that ended up altering the game. 

Out went DeAndre Ayton. 

In came Jaxson Hayes. 

What followed was not subtle. It was an injection of energy and effort that might have saved the Lakers from a single-elimination game in four weeks. 

Hayes sprinted the floor like a man determined to drag the Lakers back into the fight by sheer willpower. Seconds after the timeout, he exploded to the rim for a dunk that didn’t just stop New Orleans’ momentum — it shocked the whole building awake. 

Hayes wasn’t finished. He blocked Zion Williamson’s next shot, grabbed the rebound and hustled down the floor. The result was a three-pointer by Austin Reaves. 

Marcus Smart could feel the energy shifting. After a LeBron James block he grabbed the ball and started a fast break in transition. He got fouled. Headed to the line and sank two free throws. 

“Those types of plays are contagious. Especially on the defensive end,” Smart said of Hayes’ sequence. “Jaxon came in and changed the game for us. That got us all going.”

On the Lakers next possession, Luke Kennard shot a corner-three that missed, but both Hayes and Smart crashed the offensive glass and secured the rebound. Smart found Reaves for a wide-open three-pointer. Splash. 

The Lakers had the lead. 

“Those were the types of plays that we had to have in order to win tonight,” said Redick of Hayes and Smart crashing the glass to give the Lakers a second chance.

Hayes battled Williamson in the paint like someone trying to wrestle a runaway freight train. He absorbed multiple elbows, took charges and crashed the glass. 

Smart orchestrated the chaos like a defensive conductor. He had a steal, a block, and three assists during the stretch. Every play felt like a spark tossed into dry grass. 

By the time the Pelicans finally scored again, the scoreboard had flipped. 

From up eight to a 100–94 deficit. A 14–0 Lakers run.

“I thought Marcus Smart and Jaxon were incredible tonight,” Redick said. “They helped us win the game. They changed the game. Frankly, that’s not a win we’ve had since November.

“There were points where you felt the energy starting to wane. Marcus or Jaxon would make a big defensive play and we’d score in transition. They gave us life.”

LeBron, who finished with 21 points, saw the same thing during that 14–0 run that changed the game.

“We got stops and defended at a high level,” he said. “That helped us get out and run.”

Before the run began, the Lakers were drowning in their own mistakes. They had already committed 20 turnovers, handing New Orleans far too many chances to steal the game. 

But from Redick’s timeout with 7:19 remaining to the last second of the game, the Lakers had zero turnovers. 

In the entire fourth quarter, the Lakers piled up seven blocks — their most in a single quarter since 2009.

That’s not just effort. That’s desperation meeting opportunity.

The Lakers went on to finish off the Pelicans and secure a 110–101 victory that felt larger than just one night in March. Mostly because the alternative would have been ugly. 

But if Tuesday proved anything, it’s that the Lakers’ survival won’t hinge only on the brilliance of James, Luka Dončić or Reaves.

Sometimes it will come down to the grinders — the guys willing to absorb elbows, dive on hardwood and turn defense into adrenaline.

The Lakers’ schedule over the next two weeks reads like a gauntlet. Five of their next eight games come against the very teams they’re chasing: the Denver Nuggets (5th place), Minnesota Timberwolves (4th place) and Houston Rockets (3rd place).

And if the Lakers want to avoid the chaos of the play-in tournament, they’ll need more nights like Tuesday — nights where effort overrides fatigue and defense becomes a rallying cry.

LeBron and Dončić will take the headlines.

But inside Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday, the game was saved by two players who refused to let the season drift quietly toward danger.

Hayes brought the thunder.

Smart lit the match.

And for one critical stretch of basketball, the Lakers remembered exactly how hard they’re capable of fighting.

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