Lakers clinch 50th win
The Lakers clinched a playoff berth with a 127‑113 win over the Cavaliers on March 31, booking their 50th win and matching last season’s win total with a deeper rotation under JJ Redick. ( )
Luka Dončić poured in 42 points and handed out 12 assists while Deandre Ayton finished with 18 points and nine rebounds in the March 31 game, and Austin Reaves added 19 for the L.A. side. Los Angeles is listed at 50-26 in the standings and sits in the top three of the Western Conference as the regular season winds down. The team secured the Pacific Division prize after the Phoenix Suns fell 115-111 to the Orlando Magic earlier that night, a result that resolved L.A.’s division math without waiting for later outcomes. Coach JJ Redick has tightened his end-of-season rotation to roughly nine trusted players, a move noted by league reporters as part of the staff’s late-season strategy. The Lakers’ bench has produced roughly 29 points per game this season, a figure that helps explain how Redick has managed minutes across stars and role players. Los Angeles travels to Oklahoma City for its next regular-season game on Thursday, and the NBA’s SoFi play-in tournament begins April 14 ahead of the playoffs that open April 18. The club has now reached back-to-back 50-win campaigns for the first time since the stretch from 2007–11, a milestone cited by league statisticians after Tuesday’s results.
