JJ Redick rips through Lakers, Nuggets rocket to conference throne!
Lakers coach JJ Redick wanted his men to treat Saturday's game versus the Nuggets like a playoff game, and his request was granted.
The Los Angeles Lakers ' 127-125 win over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday was their best game of the season, and it wasn't just in the sense of the game being very hard-fought and dramatic. The Lakers also did something they have rarely done dating back to the 2022-23 season: defeat a relatively healthy Nuggets team. The memories of the Lakers losing numerous regular-season games to the Nuggets, getting swept by the Nuggets in the 2023 Western Conference finals and falling four games to one to Denver in the first round of the 2024 playoffs are still fresh in fans' minds.
But since Luka Doncic came on board last February, L. A. is 4-2 versus Nikola Jokić and crew after losing 12 of its previous 13 contests to Denver.
Coach JJ Redick said after Saturday's game that he asked his players to treat it like a playoff game, and it certainly seemed like they did just that. "We went into this game saying that we're going to treat this like a playoff game. This time of year, with those standings the way they are, a chance to get the tiebreaker over Denver...
Our guys approached it like a playoff game. They played it like a playoff game. It wasn't perfect, but they stuck with it.