Redick's Brutal Honesty: Nobody's Scared of the Lakers Right Now
Lakers coach JJ Redick didn't sugarcoat it before Friday's matchup with the Suns. With Luka Doncic sidelined by a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and Austin Reaves out with a Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury, the entire Western Conference is circling Los Angeles on their playoff brackets. And Redick knows it.
"I'm sure everybody wants to play us," he said flatly. "Let's get that out there, like, everybody wants to play us."
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Going into the final weekend, the Lakers (51-29) were locked in at No. 4 in the West, but the seeding shuffle was far from settled. Denver sat one game ahead at No. 3 with a 52-28 record. Houston was tied with L.A. at 51-29 for the No. 5 spot. And Minnesota, locked into No. 6, was four games back at 47-33. The Lakers held the tiebreaker over both Denver and Houston from winning their head-to-head matchups, but that cold comfort doesn't mean much when your two best players are watching from the sideline.
What made Friday night even more interesting was how other contenders handled their rotation. Denver sat out seven players, including Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon, despite still fighting for seeding. Meanwhile, OKC, which had already clinched the No. 1 seed, rested 10 players against Denver.
Redick Reads Between the Lines
The Lakers coach didn't need to name names. He understood what was happening: teams healthy enough to rest their starters are already thinking about round two matchups, not worried about facing a banged-up L.A. squad.
"We see some of those teams rest their entire lineup basically," Redick said. "We can't be concerned with all of that."
Instead, Redick's focus is internal. The Lakers close out their regular season at home against Utah (21-59), who had lost 10 straight heading into Friday, and then finish on Sunday. For a team trying to figure out how to win without its two best players available, every game matters.
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