'The task at hand': How Lakers coach JJ Redick stays focused
In his second season at the helm, Redick locks into each phase of the game one at a time. "A little more sane," he says of his approach.
Lakers coach JJ Redick. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) It hasn’t been Oklahoma City’s superstar burying the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals. That’s what’s made this series so vexing for the shorthanded Lakers.
After the Thunder dominated the Lakers in minutes without reigning most valuable player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the court in Game 2, flexing their superior depth, athleticism and pace, Lakers coach JJ Redick said the team had to “look at everything. ” The second-year Lakers coach is the latest to face a problem that almost no one in the NBA has solved. How do you stop the inevitable when it comes to the Oklahoma City Thunder?
The defending NBA champions rolled to a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals despite relatively quiet performances from Gilgeous-Alexander. The Thunder put the Lakers in danger of getting swept out of the playoffs for just the 10th time in franchise history. Playing without Luka Doncic , the NBA's leading scorer, the Lakers can only continue to do what they’ve done all year: adapt.
“The thing I love about the playoffs,” Redick said before the Lakers’ second-round series, “is you only can worry about the task at hand. ” Read more: Letters to Sports: Two sides to Lakers crying foul after Game 2 The Lakers have already shown their resilience this postseason by winning a first-round playoff series over the Houston Rockets in six games despite being without their superstar guard and only getting second-leading scorer Austin Reaves back for two games. When the star guards both suffered regular season-ending injuries against the Thunder on April 2, it looked like a sure disaster.
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