The Los Angeles Lakers have dealt with all kinds of injuries throughout the start of this season, but no matter who is on the court, this team has come out and played hard and embraced the mindset that head coach JJ Redick has instilled in them.
That was again the case on Wednesday night against the San Antonio Spurs as the Lakers rallied in the fourth quarter to come away with two-point win in an exciting contest that came down to the last second. Luka Doncic was unbelievable yet again, but the Lakers also got a second consecutive double-double from center Deandre Ayton who spoke about what it took for this team to pick up their fifth straight win.
“Togetherness,” Ayton said after the victory. “Not getting deflated by the environment and the content that was thrown at us. Calls wasn’t going our way, but we stayed together and that’s the main thing. Being in tough games and games not going your way, especially when you’re at home.
“It’s just you just gotta come together and just really stay solid. And the game, when it favored us, staying solid and we stopped the fouling down the stretch a little bit and, it was a free throw type of game, that’s what it comes down to when you have two great teams playing against each other.”
The Lakers were without Austin Reaves for the second consecutive game, but it didn’t matter as the team continued to get contributions from other players as has been the case all season long. On this night, it was Marcus Smart stepping up with a season-high 17 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists and Ayton credited Redick for really pushing this team since day one.
“I give my hats off to JJ [Redick],” Ayton added. “JJ and the staff have just been pushing us regardless [of] who’s out there. They’ve been doing it since I got here from training camp, from the months I’ve been in the summer in the gym. He’s been the same guy. And he’s just been every day just drilling it in our heads, having that championship mentality, championship shape, championship communication.
“That’s our motto, and that’s what we’ve been going by. It’s super contagious. The guys who are out, they work their way up to come back and play, come in the lineup and it’s like they never left.”
It is not easy to have constant lineup and rotation changes due to injury like the Lakers have. Doncic, Reaves, Smart, Gabe Vincent, Jaxson Hayes have all missed games so far, not to mention LeBron James having yet to debut this season. But regardless of who is on the court, Redick has this Lakers team playing hard every single night and perhaps even more impressively, on the defensive end as well.
“[It] gives a lot of confidence because we’re not really depending on our offense,” Ayton noted. “JJ [Redick] really wants us to have our defense create our offense and that’s what you see glimpses of us in spurts having our runs and getting stops and the crowd getting into it. That really gave us that boost as well.”
Many expected the Lakers to have a top-tier offense, but this team has also been solid defensively despite not having the best personnel to do so. That simply shows that not only is Redick pushing defense non-stop, but that this team is buying into it as well.
JJ Redick ‘excited’ about the potential of this Lakers team
The Lakers have now won five straight games and have started the season at 7-2. And the fact that this has been happening despite Luka Doncic missing games and LeBron James not having played yet, has JJ Redick excited about the potential of what this team can ultimately become.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
