JJ Redick has tried everything in the Los Angeles Lakers’ series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but to no avail.
The Lakers are clearly outmanned in this series, especially without Luka Doncic in the lineup. They have been able to keep up with the defending champs in the first halves of all three games before the Thunder eventually went on a run to pull away.
Despite the Lakers’ chances looking slim though as no one has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit, Redick is not ready to give up.
“In the third straight game, we’re right there after two-and-a-half quarters, and we tried different lineups, tried different coverages, still lost those minutes again. We’ve gotta get better,” Redick said after the Game 3 loss. “But I’m not giving up on the series, and we’re gonna go try to win on Monday. We’re gonna try to extend the series, and we’re gonna try to take this thing back to OKC.”
Redick has done an outstanding job helping the Lakers overcome injuries all season. No one expected them to beat the Houston Rockets in the first round with Doncic and Austin Reaves out, but Redick clearly has full buy-in from his squad and he has gotten the most out of them as a result.
Losing to the best team in the league is nothing to be shamed about, but Redick will keep doing all he can to give the Lakers a chance until the series is officially over.
JJ Redick shares praise for Thunder
While Redick is obviously upset with how his team has performed in this series, he also couldn’t help but give credit to the Thunder for having an answer for everything he has thrown at them.
“Again, I think it’s, typically, if you can poke holes at a team in a playoff series, there’s a good chance they might have a temporary solution or can sort of adjust maybe a little bit,” Redick said. “This team, in-game, because of their personnel can just adjust like that. They need shooting on the floor, great. They need multiple wing defenders on the floor, great. They need two bigs on the floor, great. It’s just, it’s, they’re a terrific basketball team. I said that before the series. Been very impressed with them. Still think we can beat them but we gotta be better.”
Game 4 is set for Monday night at Crypto.com Arena at 7:30 p.m. PT.
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