{"id":692838,"date":"2026-04-01T23:33:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T23:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/692838\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T23:33:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T23:33:22","slug":"lakers-cap-off-historic-month-of-march-with-win-over-cavs-and-several-milestones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/692838\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers cap off historic month of March with win over Cavs and several milestones"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Lakers didn\u2019t just beat the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> on Tuesday. They sealed a month that will be remembered as the turning point of their season. <\/p>\n

In doing so, they accomplished a bevy of historical feats, with each milestone leaning against another until at the end of the night it felt like they had built a monument.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The month of March wasn\u2019t just a hot streak<\/a>. It was a month that changed everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Lakers sealed a month that will be remembered as the turning point of their season. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Lakers historic month<\/p>\n

The Lakers finished the month with a 15-2 record and an 88% winning percentage.<\/p>\n

A month ago they were staring directly at the play-in tournament. Holding the same amount of wins as the seventh-place Phoenix Suns and one bad week away from falling into single elimination chaos and uncertainty. Now? They are alone in third place. A guaranteed top-six seed. No play-in. No roulette wheel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Exhale, because the Lakers have transformed<\/a> from a team that looked destined for a first-round exit to a team that just maybe is on the precipice of greatness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is what it looks like when a team comes together, finds their identity and finally hardens.<\/p>\n

And if we\u2019re being brutally honest, it\u2019s also an indictment on what this team wasted earlier in the season. They\u2019ve always had the talent. The roster didn\u2019t change dramatically, it just finally aligned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re being honest, it\u2019s also an indictment of what this team wasted earlier in the season. The talent didn\u2019t just arrive in March\u2014it finally aligned.<\/p>\n

Luka Doncic didn\u2019t just lead the Lakers through March. He put his stamp on history in the process. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Luka Doncic\u2019s 600-Point Symphony<\/p>\n

Luka Doncic didn\u2019t just lead the Lakers through March. He put his stamp on history in the process.<\/p>\n

In the Lakers 127-113 win over the Cavs he scored 42 points, dished out 12 assists, grabbed five rebounds, and had two steals. It was his 16th 40-point game this season<\/a>. Now tied with Elgin Baylor for the sixth-most in a single season in franchise history\u2014joining Baylor and Kobe Bryant as the only Lakers to reach that mark multiple times.<\/p>\n

But even more impressive, Doncic had exactly 600 points in the month of March and that was missing one game because of a suspension.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That number lands like thunder because only one other player in league history has ever done that in this month: Michael Jordan (687) in 1987. That\u2019s the air Doncic is breathing now.<\/p>\n

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He didn\u2019t just pass Bryant\u2019s franchise March record of 578\u2014he cleared it with room to spare and one less game played. He didn\u2019t just score\u2014he dominated every facet of the game: 600 points, 35+ steals, 50+ threes. No one has ever done that in a single month. Ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And yet, Doncic shrugged it off like a man who knows the real story hasn\u2019t been written yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor sure\u2026if you don\u2019t win, it doesn\u2019t really mean anything. The run we have been on\u2026that means a lot more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doncic isn\u2019t chasing numbers, he\u2019s chasing wins and that\u2019s scary for opponents.<\/p>\n

15,000 Points and Climbing the Pantheon<\/p>\n

Doncic also crossed 15,000 career points during the win on Tuesday. That\u2019s not just an annotation on the box score, it\u2019s a reminder of how quickly he\u2019s climbing the ranks past legends of the past.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Doncic is the third-youngest ever to accomplish the feat. Behind only LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Ahead of Bryant. Ahead of Wilt Chamberlain.<\/p>\n

And he got there in 513 games\u2014the sixth-fastest in league history.<\/p>\n

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LeBron James and the Weight of Wins<\/p>\n

At 41 years old, in his 23rd season, LeBron is no longer chasing history\u2014he\u2019s now dragging it along behind him.<\/p>\n

Tuesday gave him another crown: 1,229 total wins (regular season + playoffs), passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most in NBA history.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s almost absurd how routine this has become. Another game, another record.<\/p>\n

But inside the Lakers locker room, when you celebrate the King, the face of the franchise, the young head coach, and the role players around them, you\u2019re celebrating a team, and that means more than you know.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lost in the avalanche was Rui Hachimura crossing 5,000 career points. AP<\/p>\n

Rui Hachimura\u2019s Quiet Climb<\/p>\n

Lost in the avalanche was Rui Hachimura crossing 5,000 career points. It won\u2019t grab the headlines, but as mentioned above it will go a long way in terms of this team\u2019s success come the postseason. Moments in any player\u2019s career, even the ones that aren\u2019t superstars need to be acknowledged and celebrated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

J.J. Redick\u2019s Vindication Tour<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be honest\u2014when J.J. Redick got this job, a lot of people rolled their eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cPodcaster.\u201d \u201cBroadcaster.\u201d \u201cIn over his head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two seasons later? 100 wins. Back-to-back 50-win seasons. The first Lakers coach to do that since Phil Jackson, and he did it in his first two seasons coaching at any level. Period. Only the 16th NBA coach to ever accomplish that feat, and just the fourth in Lakers history.<\/p>\n

And when his kids, Knox and Kai, appeared on screen in that locker room to congratulate him, the moment cracked through the edge and revealed something human beneath the r\u00e9sum\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be honest\u2014when J.J. Redick got this job, a lot of people rolled their eyes. AP<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t deserve to be mentioned along with Phil and Pat\u2026we have a lot left to accomplish,\u201d said Redick humbly.<\/p>\n

That humility is real. So is the fact that Redick didn\u2019t inherit a contender, he shaped one. And he did it all with clarity, stubbornness, and refusal to let the outside noise define him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I wanted to be a head coach before I ever got the job,\u201d said Redick reflecting back his motivation for getting into coaching. \u201cMy Dad was a potter and an artist. My parents were hippies. We grew up in the sticks\u2026he became a counselor and eventually he and my mom both became life coaches. For most of the entirety that I\u2019ve played basketball it\u2019s been with that mindset to help people and to coach people.\u201d<\/p>\n

What It All Means\u00a0<\/p>\n

Milestones are nice. Banners are better. That\u2019s something every Lakers fan knows.\u00a0<\/p>\n

March gave them everything you could ask for\u2014momentum, identity, belief, proof. It bonded them through wins, adversity, road trips, late-night dinners, rounds on the golf course, and shared belief. It gave them something every contender needs but can\u2019t ever fake: Trust.<\/p>\n

But none of these milestones mean anything if it doesn\u2019t get packed onto the plane with them come April, May, and June.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Because history doesn\u2019t care about your best month. It only remembers your last one.<\/p>\n

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