The last few weeks have been rough for the Los Angeles Lakers as not only have they had a busy schedule against quality opponents, but they have also been without some key pieces due to injury.
The Lakers made it to the other side of that stretch though after getting LeBron James and Rui Hachimura back for Saturday night’s game against the Bulls. With them returning, Maxi Kleber is the only Lakers player still out as the team is getting healthy at the perfect time heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
L.A. has shown to be one of the best teams in the league when healthy, although they failed to pick up where they left off on Saturday with a loss to the Bulls.
Ahead of that contest, JJ Redick spoke about how excited he is to get James and Hachimura back so the Lakers can build some continuity ahead of the start of the playoffs.
“Yeah, I mentioned to you guys a couple times over the last month, we just haven’t had a lot of time with our full team available,” Redick said. “We’ve had to manage this all season long no matter which iteration this team has been. So I’m excited for these last 13 games to build some continuity, build some chemistry and hopefully the way we were playing prior to the Boston game, we can kind of get back to that. It may not be tonight, it may not be on Monday, but we’re a good basketball team if we’re playing the way we played for that six or seven-week stretch.”
Redick is right that the Lakers have rarely been healthy this season. They have found a way to manage without key pieces though and a big reason for that was how hard they played during their recent stretch, which Redick believes says something about the group as a whole.
“I think it says a lot about the culture we’ve created as a group and the spirit of competition,” Redick added. “I thought we were in that game for two-and-a-half quarters the other night against Milwaukee. We played at a very high level in Denver when we had to sit some guys with injuries.
“I think the response that we got after going 0-4 on the road trip to come back home and win three very tough games in a very condense stretch, our culture is solid right now and culture is a fickle thing and you gotta water it every day and pay attention to it. But it says a lot about the group that they were able to get through this, plow through this and compete at a high level.”
Considering the Lakers made some big changes at the trade deadline, the final 12 regular season games will be key to build the chemistry that Redick is looking for. The Lakers have the ability to go on a special run in the playoffs, but they need everyone healthy and on the same page in order for that to happen.
Michael Malone believes JJ Redick has fingerprints all over Lakers’ success
A big reason the Lakers have been about to stay afloat during this difficult stretch is because JJ Redick has them bought in and ready to play on a night-to-night basis. He recently earned some praise from Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone, who believes Redick’s fingerprints are all over the Lakers’ successful season.
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