Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick is still looking for a solution after his club fell 3-0 behind the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals. Saturday night’s Game 3 at Crypto.com Arena followed the same pattern as the first two contests: the Lakers led by two at halftime before being outscored by 13 in the third quarter and by 25 over the final 24 minutes.
“If you can poke holes at a team in a playoff series, there’s a good chance they might have a temporary solution,” Redick told reporters postgame. “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, great. They need two bigs, great. 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.”
Thunder depth overshadows Lakers’ limited rotation
Los Angeles has largely contained Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the favorite for a second consecutive NBA Most Valuable Player award, yet Oklahoma City’s supporting cast has consistently filled the scoring void. The Lakers’ depth has been further strained without Luka Doncic, enabling the Thunder to look fresher down the stretch in every game.
Turnovers remain a decisive factor
Redick pointed to ball security as a primary reason for the team’s struggles. “The turnovers—lower number—but they still scored 30 points off those turnovers,” he said. “We had five of them in the third. I think all of them actually led to fast-break transition baskets.” He added that the Thunder were “11-of-17 from three in the second half” at one stage, compounding the Lakers’ inability to score when they could not generate stops.
Despite the historical precedent—no NBA team has overcome a 3-0 deficit in a playoff series—Redick insisted the Lakers will continue searching for adjustments before Monday night’s Game 4 in Los Angeles.
Source: LakersNation.com
