How the Lakers are using their week off to get ready physically for the playoffs

Let's take a closer look at how the Lakers are prepping for the NBA playoffs with their week off.

The Lakers had a grueling end-of-season schedule with many of those games coming at a higher intensity due to playoff seeding ramifications.

The team made it through with some ups and downs, as expected, and came out with the No. 3 seed in the West, clinching that seed in the penultimate game of the regular season against the Rockets.

Subsequently, they were able to rest all of their key players in the final game against the Trailblazers, which gave the playoff rotation players a week off before starting their first round playoff series against the Timberwolves.

Let's take a closer look at how they’re using that time.

First things first is some much-needed rest. As I mentioned, the team had a very busy end to the season, so immediately you allow some time for players to de-load physically and take time off. The team was given the day off on Monday, giving the core roster three days of no games.

That initial rest period allows for physical and mental recovery, including from overload injuries like Rui Hachimura’s patellar tendinopathy — which he said is feeling much better compared to when he first returned — and the nagging issues that most players are dealing with at this point of the season.

Think of this initial rest and recovery like a circuit breaker.

However, rest alone isn’t the answer during this week-long break. You still need to establish and maintain a rhythm, both on and off the court. The on-court component comes through practices.

This is especially important as practice time has been at a premium for the Lakers due to their schedule. Off the court, the players can take this week to establish their off-court routines, whether at home, at the practice center or with their strength and conditioning.

Speaking of strength, conditioning and fitness, this week is also key for planning and building resilience with eyes on a deep playoff run. You don’t know how much time you will or won’t have off moving forward — if the Lakers do indeed win the series — so you can take the week to really dial in strength and conditioning and build up physical capacity along with focused treatment and rehab on needed areas.

Being as proactive as possible is critical because once you’re in the thick of it and variables are changing, such as scheduling, travel, potential injuries, nagging issues, etc., it becomes more complicated to manage.

As players build up a rhythm and dial in their fitness, the players and coaching staff will begin to ramp up to more closely match the intensity of playoff basketball. This will be reflected in all aspects, including practices, scrimmages, the game plan implementation, and the general focus and attention to detail from the coaching staff and players.

Last but not least, this week allows teams like the Lakers to potentially get players back who may have been targeting the playoffs as their return date. In the case of the purple and gold, that is versatile center Maxi Kleber, who was recently cleared for on-court activities.

Kleber is currently going through on-court work and is participating in parts of practices. This week affords him the time and practices to really learn and integrate with the team and go through methodical, graduated activity with the end goal of participating in scrimmages and, if he responds well, games.

All in all, having the week off — particularly after the Lakers’ schedule to end the season — creates a physical and mental platform to build on for the first round series against the Timberwolves and hopefully more rounds after that.

It’s such a stark contrast to the play-in scenario and hopefully one the team can benefit from for the foreseeable future.

Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT has a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona University, and runs his own in-person and online sports medicine and performance business, 3CB Performance, in West LA and Valencia, CA and combines his movement expertise and fitness training background to rehab & train elite athletes.

He also works at a hospital — giving him experience with patients in the immediate healthcare setting and neurological patients (post stroke, post brain injury) — and has been practicing for over 5 years. Brar is additionally training at UCLA’s mindful awareness research center (MARC), has a background in youth basketball coaching and analyzes the Lakers from a medical and skills perspective for Silver Screen and Roll and on his own YouTube Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @3cbPerformance, on Instagram, and on his weekly Substack 3CB Quick HIITS