Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick said on May 4 that taking care of the ball will be the most important factor for his team as they prepare to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the next round of the playoffs.
Redick acknowledged that while he was pleased with how the Lakers performed against the Houston Rockets in the first round, their upcoming matchup with Oklahoma City presents a greater challenge. The Thunder defeated the Lakers in all four regular-season games, and Redick emphasized that ball security would be crucial due to Oklahoma City’s defensive pressure.
“Taking care of the ball,” Redick said when asked about what is most important for his team against the Thunder. “I mean, the reality of their defense is that whatever moments we felt Houston pressuring, like the maximum amount of pressure they put on us, that’s OKC’s baseline. That’s their floor.
“You’re talking about a team that is top five in every category that’s disruptive based. Steals, blocks, turnovers forced, all that stuff. And they don’t foul. They somehow do all of that without fouling, which is one of the most remarkable things, I think, in NBA history.”
Redick explained that during practices before facing Houston he focused on defensive rebounding but now plans to emphasize limiting turnovers due to less preparation time before Game 1 against Oklahoma City. “I think today was building towards what tomorrow is gonna look like and building towards Game 1. You don’t obviously have as much time as you do for your first-round opponent. But we have to have some built-in pressure releases, yeah,” Redick said.
With Luka Doncic still out injured and players like LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard expected to handle much of the ball handling duties against strong defensive pressure from Oklahoma City, minimizing mistakes will be key if Los Angeles wants a chance at advancing further.
Redick also praised Oklahoma City’s recent performance over multiple seasons: “We saw a stat in our morning meeting this morning of teams that have had back-to-back or even more than that 10 or more better net ratings in consecutive seasons. You’re talking about the 95-96 Bulls, the 96-97 Bulls and then the 15-17 Warriors,” he said.
“You’re literally talking about two of the greatest teams of all-time. I said to a bunch of people yesterday off-site…‘The Thunder is one of the greatest teams ever in NBA history.’ That’s just reality…They’re that good…I think our guys recognize that and respect that and we know what kind of task we have in front of us.”
The series between Los Angeles and Oklahoma City will begin soon as both teams prepare for an intense second-round playoff matchup.