Lakers lean on depth in Detroit and Atlanta, and JJ Redick says it is the plan

The Los Angeles Lakers have turned a two-game stretch with a thinned lineup into proof that their bench can carry real weight. After Monday's 124-114 win at Atlanta, JJ Redick called the victories over the Pistons and Hawks "great examples of next guy up," according to SB Nation.

The Atlanta win came without Austin Reaves. He scored 43 points in Sunday's 121-116 win in Detroit, then missed the next night with an illness, Yahoo Sports reported. Redick said a team feels each missing player more as the absences pile up, because it has to check whether it still has enough ball-handling, rebounding and shooting on the floor. Collin Sexton took over much of the ball-handling. Redick praised how he attacked the paint and gave the team energy in the first half, and said the group looked more organized when Sexton ran the offense.

Sandro Mamukelashvili had his biggest night as a Laker in Atlanta with 23 points. Redick pointed to two defensive rebounds Mamukelashvili grabbed in the final minutes and ranked them with anything else he did that night. Walker Kessler anchored the middle across both games, averaging 16.5 points, 13 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 blocks, per SB Nation. Kessler described the stretch as practice for handling adversity. He said that when Atlanta made its fourth-quarter run, the Lakers answered it.

Silver Screen and Roll said this team is living up to the next-man-up label, with no drop-off when a regular sits. That matters because Luka Dončić and Reaves will still decide how far this season goes. A rotation that can win road games on consecutive nights without one of them gives Redick room to manage minutes through the winter.

What it means in Milwaukee

Los Angeles is 10-2 and has won six straight since a 112-95 loss at Golden State. The run includes home wins over Toronto, Miami and Portland and road wins in Sacramento, Detroit and Atlanta. Over those six games the Lakers averaged about 125.7 points and allowed about 115.5. They are 5-1 on the road, and Wednesday's game at Milwaukee (5 p.m. Pacific) is a chance to finish the trip unbeaten.

The market expects them to do it. On this site's board for the game, which tracks 12 venues, the Lakers are heavily favored. Novig has them at -590 on the moneyline, which returns $16.95 profit per $100, and lists the Bucks at +567. Novig's spread is Lakers -12.5 at -106. The best Lakers spread price on the board is BetRivers at -11.5 and -120. That number is a point shorter but costs more, so the venues differ by about a point on the line itself. Sportsbook hold runs 2.9% to 5.5% on the spread and 3.9% to 5.6% on the moneyline.

The total sits at 231.5 at Novig, with the over at -100 and the under at -104. BetRivers posts the best under on the board at 232.5 and -114. That total fits the six-game run, in which Lakers games averaged roughly 241 combined points.

The status of Reaves after his illness is the main thing to watch before tipoff. Whether he plays or not, the last two nights showed the Lakers do not have to change how they play to win without him.