JJ Redick on Lakers depleted by casualties: Everyone wants to play against us
JJ Redick believes that the other Western teams that have yet to define their position in the table will prefer the Lakers as their rival in the first round.
LOS ANGELES — The coach Los Angeles Lakers, JJ Redickyou don’t know what position your team will occupy in the playoffs standings. Western Conferencegiven that places 3 to 5 are all up for grabs heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
But you know that, with Luka Doncic off the court due to a grade 2 left hamstring strain and Austin Reaves absent due to a grade 2 injury to the left oblique muscle, no one will be afraid to face his team.
In fact, Redick believes that the other Western teams that have yet to define their position in the table will prefer the Lakers as their rival in the first round.
“I’m sure everyone wants to play us,” Redick said before the Lakers hosted the Phoenix Suns on Friday. “Let’s say it clearly: everyone wants to play against us.”
The Lakers (51-29) were in fourth place in the West entering Friday night: one game behind the third-place Denver Nuggets (52-28); tied in record with the fifth-placed Houston Rockets (51-29); and with four games ahead of the sixth-placed Minnesota Timberwolves (47-33).
The Lakers have the tiebreaker over Denver and Houston thanks to having won the season’s series against both teams. Minnesota, which is already assured of sixth place, faced the Rockets in Houston this Friday.
Denver defeated the West leader, the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Although OKC has already secured the top spot and rested 10 of its players, Denver also left seven players — including Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon — out of the rotation on Friday, even though the Nuggets’ final position in the standings is still undecided.
Without naming any team in particular, Redick seemed to allude to Denver’s decision regarding its lineup.
“(Teams) are in a position where they can also start looking ahead, thinking about potential second-round matchups,” Redick added. «We see that some of those teams rest practically their entire lineup; Therefore, we cannot worry about all that.
»Once again, I will repeat what I told the team yesterday – and what I told you after the game –: we have to find the formula and the mentality necessary for this group to achieve success. So, that’s our focus for tonight, and that will be our focus on Sunday as well.”
LA closes its home game schedule facing the Utah Jazz (21-59). Utah entered its Friday game against the Memphis Grizzlies having lost 10 games in a row.
