There was very little not to like in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 27-point domination of the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday afternoon. The Lakers executed head coach JJ Redick’s game plan to perfection on both ends of the court and the result was perhaps the most impressive victory any team in the league has had this season.
In speaking on the performance, Redick praised the Lakers for being connected offensively and defensively and never letting up despite having a big lead for most of the game, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I thought we were very connected both in intent and spirit on both ends of the floor. Very committed to what we were trying to do defensively and very committed to where we felt like we could generate good shots offensively against a terrific defense. There wasn’t a let up to that, there wasn’t any overreactions to certain possessions. And then we played at a pretty slow pace there in there second half but didn’t allow them to get out and really have enough possessions to get back into the game, which also was important. I think our guys did a good job of not just building the lead, but besides that run they made in the second quarter, they maintained that cushion throughout the game. And that’s really hard to do against anyone, particularly against this team and particularly in this building.”
The Lakers were absolutely on fire on offense, knocking down 22 3-pointers and moving the ball around all night long against the NBA’s best defense. Redick felt the Lakers did a great job of recognizing the different coverages being thrown at them and attacking them the right way:
“They played a bunch of different coverages. They played some drops, they played some Reds, they played some blitzes. I just thought our ability to recognize, other than one possession when they blitzed towards the end of the second quarter, but I thought our ability to recognize those coverages was really good. Luka, again, just his ability to make 3s. I don’t know the exact total, but Max will have it on the postgame report, but we got some great uncontested corner 3s… I just thought the movement, the spacing and the intent was great all night.”
When it comes to the defense, Redick praised his team for keeping the Thunder off the offensive glass while also noting that their lack of live-ball turnovers allowed them to set their defense:
“They ended up with nine offensive rebounds and four of those came Dillon Jones in the fourth quarter, so I thought we did a really good job on the glass. I’d have to get the exact stats but I know several of our turnovers were dead-ball turnovers versus live-ball turnovers. So we were able to set our defense. This is gonna sound silly, but we also had some really timely fouls where we weren’t in the bonus and maybe they had an advantage or maybe they had a man down and we were able to foul and stop the possession and they took it out on the side. I just think all of that stuff contributed to us just not allowing them to get in any sort of rhythm offensively.”
Overall, it was as close to a perfect performance as anyone can ask for and Redick and the Lakers should be extremely proud of this victory.
JJ Redick talks Lakers goals to finish regular season
The Lakers have an extremely tough stretch to end the regular season as four of their final five games are on the road. Prior to the first of those games against the Thunder, JJ Redick spoke about the Lakers’ spirit and effort being more important than the results.
“I think it’s more spiritual than anything else, than results,” he said. “We’re going to have three massive tests, come home, have another massive test, and then play a really tough Portland team. So if our spirit is right, I can live with the results. And I’m pretty confident that the results will be more good than bad.”
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