Dorian Finney Smith is excited to feel the energy from fans in the playoffs

With the Lakers holding home court advantage to open the playoffs, Dorian Finney-Smith is excited to see the energy of the crowd at Crypto.com Arena.

The Lakers will have something they’ve not had for over a decade when they open the playoffs on Saturday: home court advantage.

While they earned it in 2020, the bubble nullified any sort of home and away advantage. Not since 2012 have the Lakers entered a postseason as a higher seed in a matchup.

It’ll be a huge bonus for a team that has been forced to attempt to overcome that disadvantage in recent playoff runs. In the limited home games they had, the Lakers have turned up with some memorable performances backed by boisterous fans.

For Dorian Finney-Smith, the chance to play in front of those fans is something he’s looking forward to.

“First time I’m going to feel that Laker energy I grew up watching, watching them in the playoffs,” DFS said. “I’m excited to see the energy that’s going to be in the building.”

The Lakers made a habit in the 2023 playoffs of taking care of business, excluding the Nuggets. In fact, only Denver has beaten them in LA over the last two playoff runs.

Now, that’s a pretty big “yeah, but” to take into account, but the Lakers aren’t facing Denver anytime soon, specifically in the first round. And when they haven’t played the Nuggets, they’ve produced some memorable moments.

“The playoffs are different, obviously,” DFS said. “It’s just that every possession matters when you’re playing in the playoffs. Our fans are always engaged, so I can only imagine how it’s going to be in the playoffs. Just talking to [Reaves] and Vando, they talk about the run they made and it was lit in the building. I just want to see for myself.”

Austin Reaves was involved in one of the more memorable moments during that 2023 run with his half-court shot against the Warriors.

That wasn’t the only one, either. Game 4 against the Grizzlies produced some memorable shots and moments, including LeBron’s game-sealing and-one over Dillon Brooks.

Not only will the Lakers have more chances to create those playoff moments, but they’ll have even more opportunities to do it in front of their home fans.

The table is set for a great postseason and, hopefully, one the Lakers can find more success in.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.