{"id":670408,"date":"2026-03-21T08:38:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T08:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/670408\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T08:38:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T08:38:47","slug":"byron-scott-believes-lakers-have-legit-shot-to-make-serious-playoff-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/670408\/","title":{"rendered":"Byron Scott Believes Lakers Have Legit Shot to Make Serious Playoff Run"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                          Byron Scott<br \/>\n                          Lakers Look Ready for Playoff Run<br \/>\n                          &#8230; The West Might Have a Problem!<\/p>\n<p>\n                                                                        Published<br \/>\n                              March 21, 2026<br \/>\n                            12:05 AM PDT\n                                                                            <\/p>\n<p>            Play video content<\/p>\n<p>                    <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/e6e669145cd740ee9be06082c2ed6525_md.jpg\" alt=\"byron-scott-lakers-kal-03-18-2026\" width=\"728\" height=\"410\" class=\"img-fluid\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                    TMZSports.com<\/p>\n<p>The Lakers aren\u2019t just heating up &#8212; they\u2019re on fire \u2026 and even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/people\/byron-scott\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Byron Scott<\/a> is starting to believe this run might be real.<\/p>\n<p>L.A. sits third in the west after ripping off eight straight wins, fueled by a full-blown takeover from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/people\/luka-doncic\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Luka Don\u010di\u0107<\/a> &#8212; who\u2019s been dropping video game numbers and completely reshaping the offense in the process. But Scott tells <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/sports\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">TMZ Sports<\/a> it\u2019s not just the scoring that has him buying in.<\/p>\n<p>                  <a class=\"js-click-image js-track-link image-lightbox-preview\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:image-asset:image_jpg_20250619_92e1531e733e4c468577ceadf6cec942\" data-container-ref=\"tmz:article:abbc3249-7377-4a7a-a4a6-ee849a9628cb\" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p>                          <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/92e1531e733e4c468577ceadf6cec942_md.jpg\" alt=\"byron scott lakers celtics 1986 sub getty swipe\" width=\"728\" height=\"546\" class=\"img-fluid image-block__img-fluid img-aspect-auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe biggest thing for me has always been the defensive end,\u201d Scott said. \u201cBut over these last four or five games, really this whole stretch, they\u2019ve been locked in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the difference.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"continued\" class=\"continued-anchor\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Because the offense was never a question. Between Luka, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/people\/lebron-james\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">LeBron James<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/people\/austin-reeves\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Austin Reaves<\/a>, the Lakers have three guys who can go get buckets whenever they want. Now, with LeBron leaning more into a facilitator role and Reaves thriving as the glue guy, everything\u2019s finally clicking.<\/p>\n<p>And when it clicks like this, Scott says the ceiling gets real high.<\/p>\n<p>                  <a class=\"js-click-image js-track-link image-lightbox-preview\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:image-asset:image_jpg_20260312_455256b5a2514980a79ebf2547bf9015\" data-container-ref=\"tmz:article:abbc3249-7377-4a7a-a4a6-ee849a9628cb\" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p>                          <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/455256b5a2514980a79ebf2547bf9015_md.jpg\" alt=\"Luka-Doncic-lebron-james-sub-getty-1\" width=\"728\" height=\"546\" class=\"img-fluid image-block__img-fluid img-aspect-auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think they have a chance to get to the Western Conference Finals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not bad for a team that spent most of the season trying to figure itself out.<\/p>\n<p>Still, let\u2019s not go planning the parade just yet.<\/p>\n<p>Even with the streak, Scott isn\u2019t ready to pick L.A. over the West\u2019s top dog &#8212; the Oklahoma City Thunder &#8212; in a seven-game series.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy heart bleeds purple and gold,\u201d he said, \u201cbut OKC is just a little too deep.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Basically, the former Lakers guard and head coach says it&#8217;s a fun story \u2026 but there\u2019s still a boss level waiting with OKC&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/people\/shai-gilgeous-alexander\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> &#8212; the reigning MVP who Scott calls a \u201cquiet assassin\u201d that nobody seems to appreciate fully.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe gets to his spots, he\u2019s efficient, and he does it every single night,&#8221; Scott said. &#8220;He\u2019s tough to guard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As for the Lakers\u2019 future, Scott didn\u2019t exactly dodge the big question, either &#8230; admitting he thinks this could be LeBron\u2019s final season in L.A. as the franchise officially shifts into Luka\u2019s era.<\/p>\n<p>Check out the interview!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Byron Scott Lakers Look Ready for Playoff Run &#8230; The West Might Have a Problem! Published March 21,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3790],"tags":[7,4034,1698,300,4044,251,150,4033,4043,6,67,66,83,2228],"class_list":{"0":"post-670408","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-lakers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-la","10":"tag-la-lakers","11":"tag-lakers","12":"tag-lalakers","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","15":"tag-losangeles","16":"tag-losangeleslakers","17":"tag-nba","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-sports-news","21":"tag-tmz-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116266266613575917","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}