The Los Angeles Lakers game against the Houston Rockets lived up to the hype as a playoff preview with JJ Redick’s squad having to dig deep to get a victory. In particular, it was the Lakers’ defense that carried them as they held the Rockets to just 98 points on 41.6% shooting from the field.
It was the second consecutive victory for the Lakers over teams they could see in the postseason and it looks as if the team could be finding its rhythm once again after getting healthy. But Redick felt this win was more about the Lakers giving everything they could on defense to overcome a rough offensive outing.
“I wouldn’t say a rhythm. [Memphis and tonight] are two very different games,” Redick said after the six-point win. “I think [with] the competitive spirit and togetherness, they played really hard tonight to put ourselves in a position to win the basketball game. [We] set a season high for catch-and-shoot threes with 29. A lot of those were uncontested. We were 2-16 on uncontested threes in the first half. I feel like we left a lot on the table.
“They did a really good job, I thought, of not allowing us at times to get the matchups that we wanted with some of their scrams. They have a great defense, they communicate well, they’re big, they’re athletic and they’re strong. But we weathered some missed shots, did a good job of taking care of the basketball and limited them to 13 fastbreak points and 10 second chance points. We made them play in the half court. Our guys really competed on that. They left everything [and] they emptied the tank on the defensive end. It was fantastic.”
In the playoffs, teams can really game plan and that is what it felt like as the Rockets did everything they could to get the ball out of the hands of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James. Thankfully, Gabe Vincent and Dorian Finney-Smith proved their worth once again with 20 points and six 3-pointers each off the bench, but it was the defense that propelled the Lakers as a team.
It’s no secret that the Lakers are small inside with Jaxson Hayes being the only true center. But Redick credited his team’s ability to pack the paint defensively and gang rebound against a Houston team that can really dominate the glass.
“Well, defensively it’s just packing the paint and gang rebounding. I think we did that tonight,” Redick added. “LeBron [James] eight rebounds, Austin [Reaves] eight rebounds, Luka [Dončić] six rebounds, Doe (Dorian Finney-Smith) six rebounds, Gabe [Vincent] four rebounds and Vando (Jarred Vanderbilt) six rebounds. That’s how we have to control the glass is by committee. This is very explicit–if you’re on [Alperen] Sengun and [Steven] Adams, you’re not going to get the rebound. Your job is to box out, and it’s somebody else’s job to come in, tip the ball to a teammate or grab the rebound. We were great with that tonight.”
Redick and the Lakers coaching staff have done an excellent job of game-planning all season long and the players followed it well against a Rockets team that is best in the NBA in rebounding. This roster has some limitations, but the competitiveness and fight is allowing them to overcome it and that was certainly the case on Monday night.
JJ Redick says analytics show injured players return most often against Lakers
It is a bit of a running joke that injured players always seem to return to the court when the Lakers are on the schedule. While it wasn’t the case against the Rockets, it was the case in the Lakers’ prior game against the Memphis Grizzlies as Ja Morant returned after missing the previous six games.
But perhaps it isn’t just a theory as head coach JJ Redick said the Lakers’ analytics team looked into it and the numbers bare out what many already felt was a fact.
“I think it’s like 86% of [opposing] payroll has been available to [play] us this year, which is by far No. 1 in the league,” Redick said.
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