we can control our defense every single night,” Anthony Davis said. “Adding the way Max (Christie) is playing and the way Gabe (Vincent) is playing defensively and then adding Vando and even (Dorian Finney-Smith), it helps our defense.

“Not saying that kind of widens it a little bit because we still don’t want to get lackadaisical where we’re, ‘Oh, we got room for error,’ and now you’re kind of playing too free, in a sense. So we’re still in that mindset where we still got to be sound defensively and sound offensively.”

But those margins being wider allow the Lakers (25-18) to pull out victories like on Saturday without feeling the game-to-game stress of having to play “close to perfect basketball,” as James put it after the loss to the Clippers.

They can lean on the defensive versatility of Vincent, Christie, Finney-Smith and Vanderbilt, all of whom played a part in Warriors star Steph Curry struggling Saturday.

Curry finished with 13 points on 4-of-17 shooting and nine assists, including going scoreless in the second half and missing all eight shots he took in the final two quarters.

Or the extra scoring opportunities that Vanderbilt can create with rebounding and defensive disruption.

Vanderbilt finished with two points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists in 12 minutes in his first game in nearly a year after being sidelined since Feb. 1, 2024 because of feet ailments that led to offseason surgery.

“Vando was awesome,” Redick said of Vanderbilt. “Did all the things that we need him to do. It looked like the Vando that we know. He was great, and I thought that run that he had in the second half, just his activity, got a couple offensive rebounds. Just, just fantastic stuff from him.”

And when the Lakers’ three best players – Davis, James and Austin Reaves – perform like they have the last two games, including Thursday’s signature home win over the Boston Celtics, those margins are even wider.

Davis has averaged 30 points, 10.5 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots over the last two games while James has averaged 22.5 points, 9.5 rebound and nine assists and Reaves has averaged 19.5 points and 6.5 assists.

“What I was kind of getting at wasn’t our roster,” Redick said Saturday. “What I was getting at was the nature of how we play, the nature of how we play through our best players, and the nature of not having necessarily a Steph Curry on our roster that can literally generate 10-12 3s a game. I was getting at the math more than anything.

“The last two games, our three best players have played really well and everyone else has starred in their roles. That’s what a great team is — guys starring in their roles. And so for Vando, him starring his role, Gabe starring his role, Max Christie starring his role, Jaxson Hayes starring his role, all those guys. Doe, like that separates us a little bit. That creates a margin for us to become a great team.”

The Lakers begin the East Coast portion of their trip today in Charlotte.

Vincent is listed as questionable against the Hornets because of left knee soreness. Rui Hachimura, who missed Saturday’s game because of left calf soreness, is also listed as questionable.