During the post-game interview following their 108-120 home win over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick gave his honest opinion of the team's playoff-seeding goals. When asked about going after their home-court advantage for the postseason, Redick claimed that they would love to have it but the team's focus is on the game in front of them.
What did JJ Redick say during the post-game interview?
After the win over Nuggets, Redick said,
We would all love to have home-court advantage, it would be nice, JJ Redick said. Our group has been awesome at home so far, but you gotta play the next game and you gotta win the game in front of you.
I've just seen it too many times -- the basketball gods starting messing around with things. The basketball gods -- they will punish you, Redick added.
The LA Lakers currently see themselves third in the Western Conference with a record of 43-25 after their win over Nuggets (44-26) on Monday. With just 14 games left in the regular season, the Lakers are one game behind the Houston Rockets and have two games lined up against them for the second spot.
The home court advantage won't matter much for the Lakers as they have just lost seven games in the current season compared to the 18 away losses. The Lakers have also won their previous nine games in a row at the Crypto.com Arena and have fewer losses at home than any other NBA team besides OKC Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers.
JJ Redick on Luka Doncic's performance against Nuggets
In the absence of LeBron James, Luka Doncic stepped up and led the team to victory over the Nuggets. He registered 31 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block. Doncic had a great first quarter as he scored 21 points with the Lakers setting the tone with a 46-point frame.
During the post-game interview, Redick shared his thoughts on Luka Doncic's stellar performance against the Nuggets.
I don't know what it was exactly in Dallas, but I know he had a number of big first quarters for them, JJ Redick shared. ...This is kinda what he does and he has done throughout his career. We want him to be aggressive no matter what, but he's gonna play the right way.
JJ Redick has kept Doncic on the ball which has allowed the five time NBA All-Star to lead the charge for the Lakers in terms of offense. In the 15 games he has featured for the Lakers, Doncic has averaged 26.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 8.1 assists and 1.9 steals while shooting 40.0% from the field including 33.6% from deep.