LeBron James praises one of his new Laker teammates this season.
The Los Angeles Lakers secured no worse than the fourth seed on Friday when they defeated the Phoenix Suns.
The Lakers can still climb as high as the three seed, but they would need a victory over the Utah Jazz on Sunday, and need the San Antonio Spurs to beat the Denver Nuggets
It is unknown how many regular rotation players will suit up for the Lakers, Spurs, or Nuggets on the final day of the regular season.
Los Angeles was led by LeBron James, who finished with 28 points on 10-16 shooting, six rebounds, and 12 assists. Luke Kennard added 19 points, and Marcus Smart had six points, five rebounds, and seven assists off the bench.
LeBron James Praises Marcus Smart
After the game, LeBron was asked what it was like having Smart back on the floor after he missed time with an injury.
"Just a winning player, he makes winning plays. To have him out there..he's a good player for our club. He's always around the ball. Defensively, you know he's going to be there," he said.
LeBron also complimented Smart's offense, saying that he gives the team another ballhandler on the floor.
Smart came off the bench on Friday, his first game since March 21. He missed nine games with an ankle injury.
Smart signed a two-year deal, with the second year being a player option, with the Lakers in the offseason after being limited to just 54 games in the past two seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies and Washington Wizards.
In 61 games, 53 starts, with the Lakers, he's averaging 9.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.9 assists.
The Impact of Marcus Smart
Removing low leverage minutes, the Lakers have a 120.2 offensive rating and a 112.1 defensive rating with Smart on the floor, compared to a -0.8 net rating when he is off the floor.
Smart is the perfect complementary player to the likes of LeBron, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves as he can be a secondary playmaker, can knock down open threes, and is a connector and disruptor on defense.
Smart has a positive net rating with every member of the Lakers big three, and when all four have been on the court together, the Lakers have a +15.5 net rating in 227 minutes.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, they will be without Luka and Reaves for a portion of the first round, meaning more responsibility will fall on Smart as a lead creator when James is on the bench.