The game hasn’t gotten easy for the Lakers since the trade deadline. It just looks that way.

Consider this moment from Sunday night’s win over the Clippers: Jaxson Hayes got a defensive rebound, handed the ball to Luka Doncic, who took one step forward and fired a 75-foot two-hand chest pass downcourt to LeBron James — who caught it in stride and capped the play with an easy layup.

Touchdown, Lakers. And Doncic and James have had a play like that in just about every game lately.

A month or so has passed since The Trade — Doncic leaving the Mavericks in exchange for Anthony Davis — and the Lakers suddenly look like title contenders. They were a league-best 16-3 since Jan. 20 (through Monday). Ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Pelicans, they were in the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference, a place that until now they hadn’t been since about the first week of the season.

“It’s been great,” Doncic said. “The atmosphere has been unbelievable, and we just want to give the people what they want, and that’s winning the games. That’s what we’re doing.”

Sunday’s win was the 1,000th in which James has appeared in his regular season career, making him the fourth player to appear in that many victories after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1,074), Robert Parish (1,013) and Tim Duncan (1,001). And now, another milestone: the 40-year-old James was one point away from 50,000 for his career when combining regular-season and postseason games, and that bridge almost certainly was crossed Tuesday night.

Only two other players — Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone — have scored at least 40,000 points when adding in playoffs.

“He’s one of the greatest competitors. … He’s amazing to coach,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “He brings it every day. He sets the standard for how you’re supposed to approach this craft and that’s the most incredible thing.”

There were other trades before the deadline that teams are seeing dividends from, including the Warriors and Cavaliers. The jury’s still out in Dallas because Davis was injured when he got there — then got hurt again in his sensational debut game with the Mavs. And the injury woes for the team continued Monday night when Kyrie Irving suffered a torn ACL.

Time, and more accurately playoff results, will be the real gauge on all these moves.

But for James and the Lakers, everything is looking as good as can be. The team hosted Southern California first responders and affected community members Tuesday as part of the continued response to the wildfires that devastated parts of Los Angeles earlier this winter. The wins are piling up. The milestones keep coming. They keep rising in the standings.

“I think we could be really good going down the stretch,” James said at the All-Star Game.

He’s been proved right again.

Warriors rolling

After the acquisition of Jimmy Butler from the Heat, the Warriors are still hovering around the play-in line in an absolutely jammed race for spots 6 through 10 in the West. Butler’s mere presence, however seems to have given the Warriors a boost.

He demands defenses to respect him, which is excellent news for Stephen Curry — who had a 56-point game last week against the Magic on a night when Butler wasn’t much of an offensive factor.

“There’s still unique skill sets in this league at the superstar level,” Curry said of Butler. “And he’s a guy that has clearly defined a style that impacts winning at both ends of the floor. You see how much he’s helped us so far. … He’s succeeded at the highest level. He’s gone to two Finals and he’s motivated ... to try to get back there.”

Cavs even better

The Cavaliers made a very savvy move before the trade window closed, adding De’Andre Hunter from the Hawks. The Cavs were good before the trade. They’re even better after.

Entering Tuesday’s game against the Bulls, the Cavs were 8-0 with Hunter in the lineup — winning those eight games by an average of nearly 19 points. One of the few close ones was Sunday, when they had to dig deep to rally past the Trail Blazers with Hunter leading the way.

“I didn’t think we were going to win the game. De’Andre really took us from the abyss,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said.