JJ Redick: 'Everybody wants to play' the Lakers in the playoffs

After losing three games in a row and losing Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves to injury, the Los Angeles Lakers have now won two games in a row. They defeated the Golden State Warriors 119-103 on Thursday , and the following night, they returned home and downed the Phoenix Suns 101-73 . LeBron James has done a great job reverting back to being the Lakers' main scoring threat, and Luke Kennard has stepped up in both the scoring and facilitating departments.

Still, even though they still have a shot at claiming the Western Conference's third seed, the Lakers continue to have the look of a very vulnerable team that is limping to the finish line. Coach JJ Redick said before Friday's game that "everybody wants to play" against the Lakers in the playoffs, per ESPN . "I'm sure everybody wants to play us," Redick said.

"Let's get that out there, like, everybody wants to play us. " Friday's win guaranteed Los Angeles no worse than the fourth seed in the West, as well as home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. It will face the Minnesota Timberwolves or Houston Rockets in the first round, and while both those squads have their own issues, either would surely be favored to knock Los Angeles out.

If the Denver Nuggets, who are in third place, lose one more game, and the Lakers defeat the Utah Jazz on Sunday, the Lakers would claim the third seed. But when Denver faced the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, it rested several of its regular rotation players, including Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray. Denver ended up losing by 20 points.