Ignoring the youngster with noodle legs in his path, Anthony Davis tumbled into the paint, regained his feet, and blasted toward the rim.

The Lakers are in a state of extreme desperation. With the Crypto.com Arena audience poised for a moment, Davis delivered with a massive dunk, proving that they were desperate enough to view a Monday night game in mid-January as an opportunity to make a statement.

The Lakers haven’t had any problems with their stars playing like stars, with the exception of Davis’s mediocre triple-double against the Jazz. Problems have arisen because the team has not functioned as a cohesive one but rather as a collection of individuals.

It was D’Angelo Russell, though, who found Davis with the pass in the game against Oklahoma City. Off the bench, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura, and Christian Wood made huge plays, LeBron James attacked mismatches, Austin Reaves scored while working out of double teams, and Davis also contributed.

Davis’ slam was an individual highlight in a 112-105 Lakers victory over the Thunder, who were in second place, despite the fact that the best plays of the game were more often the result of coordinated teamwork.

James finished with 25 points, seven boards, and six assists, while Davis finished with 27 points and fifteen rebounds; nevertheless, four other players scored eleven points or more. With 44 made baskets, the Lakers had 30 assists. Even though Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 points in the first three quarters, he was unable to add to his total in the fourth.

Up to this point, the Lakers have failed to demonstrate that they can consistently deliver clutch performances. They launched into trade season on Monday, with most of their players becoming formally eligible for trades.

As is typical for general manager Rоb Pelinka, a deal could be on the horizon as we approach the trade deadline. And it’s reasonable to question the front office’s ability to replicate the impactful deadline transactions that the team made a year ago.

A player the Lakers acquired at the trade deadline last year, Vanderbilt, expressed his belief that the club might implement its own reorganization.

As a team, it’s tough since injuries and other factors cause players to come and go from the starting lineup. So it’s still challenging to try and foster that sense of camaraderie amongst ourselves,” he stated following Monday’s practice. On the other hand, that is a seasonal element. It’s not easy. We went through a lot of lineup changes, as I mentioned before. Maintaining that level of coherence is challenging. However, I am confident in our ability to handle it internally.

Even though they had dropped their previous two games to Utah and Phoenix, the Lakers were poised to bounce back on Monday.

James, who sat out the Utah game, was more аggressive in transition and defense and took less shots from outside the arc. Rhythm off ball movement was the catalyst for both of his three-point efforts.

Similar to last week’s Lakers victories against the Clippers and Raptors, Monday’s game served as a proof of concept to a lesser extent. The team is capable of bouncing back from setbacks, the most egregious of which are оffensive rebounds allowed and turnovers. However, Wednesday’s game against Dallas will provide more evidence that the Lakers are capable of regressing.

There has been a lot of winging it with this Lakers squad.