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LOS ANGELES \u2014 Simplicity might not come naturally to JJ Redick. The complexities and idiosyncrasies of basketball bounce around his mind and have made him obsessed with the sport to which he\u2019s given his life. When the Lakers hired him to replace Darvin Ham, president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka said the organization landed on Redick in part because of his \u201chigh-level strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to use math,\u201d Redick said at his introductory news conference.<\/p>\n
But two full seasons later, Redick had grown to understand his affinity for the minutiae might not work for everyone. Screening angles, footwork patterns and complex offensive actions named after foreign countries needed to give way to something clearer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s beauty in simplicity, and there\u2019s beauty in clarity,\u201d Redick said \u201cAnd that\u2019s what we try to create for our guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Redick said there were two things his team had to do against the Houston Rockets in order to have a chance at success: take care of the ball and box out. He said it on the first day the Lakers gathered to prepare for the Rockets. He repeated it at every turn.<\/p>\n
Then in Game 1, the Lakers turned the ball over 20 times and allowed 21 offensive rebounds.<\/p>\n
And still, the Lakers walked away with a 107-98 win.<\/p>\n
While Redick was trimming the fat from his playbook and his strategic messaging, the Lakers were building something beyond resiliency. Resilient teams always fight. They always scrap. This group has shown it has some of that in its game, plus resourcefulness, too.<\/p>\n
With Luka Don\u010di\u0107 and Austin Reaves \u2014 and their 56.8 points of regular-season scoring \u2014 watching in street clothes, the Lakers found a way to shoot 60.6 percent against the Rockets defense. They found ways, despite the Rockets shooting 93 times at the rim, to hold them to only 98 points. They pivoted from a Kevin Durant-centric defensive game plan after getting word he\u2019d be out roughly 90 minutes before tip.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it affected our mentality,\u201d Redick said. \u201cYou can\u2019t worry about who\u2019s in or out of the lineup. It\u2019s our game plan, it\u2019s our standards, it\u2019s how we play.\u201d<\/p>\n
It shouldn\u2019t have been a surprise that the Lakers weren\u2019t caught flat-footed.<\/p>\n
In Redick\u2019s first playoffs a season ago, his group wasn\u2019t ready for the physicality that the Minnesota Timberwolves brought. This year, they monitored workloads, held Assault Bike competitions and preached readiness. And when Durant was scratched, the surprise inside the Lakers\u2019 locker room quickly transitioned to thinking about a new set of problems that needed solving.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe kept our composure,\u201d said LeBron James, who finished the night with 19 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds.<\/p>\n
James was the personification of composure against a Rockets team that\u2019s fueled by physicality and athleticism. James stared down the Rockets defense early and had eight first-quarter assists with no turnovers. Everyone else on the court found their rhythm at his direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got to do a little bit of everything,\u201d James said. \u201cIt\u2019s what the job requires.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Luke Kennard, the job meant expanding his shot diet while handling the ball against one of the NBA\u2019s best pressure defenders, Amen Thompson. Kennard finished with 27 points, including three massive 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. He turned the ball over only three times in more than 38 minutes.<\/p>\n
Losses to Dallas and Oklahoma City followed by three wins to close the regular season were crucial in Kennard flipping from bench scorer to starting point guard.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt those games leading up to now I developed a rhythm,\u201d Kennard said. \u201cKind of playing in that role, it gave me confidence going into the playoffs, doing more and being controlled and poised and looking for my shot when I can. So tonight it was no different.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Kennard\u2019s showed a willingness to seek out what \u201cthe best shot\u201d looks like for him. Postgame, Redick said he liked how aggressive Kennard was at the 3-point line. One of those 3s came after an attack where he pulled the ball back out and launched at the first clear sightline.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s everybody continuing to build confidence in me to be aggressive and look for my shot whenever I can. So any daylight that I see,\u201d Kennard said. \u201cAnd they obviously they got some big athletic defenders, guys that have been on me from the start of the game trying to be physical. So when I see space in the rim, I\u2019m going to look to get it up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, there were Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton, locker room neighbors who both signed with the Lakers in part because of their desire to play meaningful basketball again. Smart made one 3, but it was a momentum-stopper in the fourth quarter. His five turnovers were a problem, but his eight assists were a must. And Ayton, squaring up with All-Star Alperen \u015eeng\u00fcn, matched \u015eeng\u00fcn with 19 points on just 10 shots and added 11 rebounds<\/p>\n
\u201cJust thought we were really poised as a team. We had a great next-play mentality,\u201d Redick said. \u201cWasn\u2019t a perfect game. None of these games are gonna be perfect. Got contributions from a lot of people in a lot of different ways, and made enough winning plays, despite the turnovers and the offensive rebounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saturday, this version of the Lakers proved it was good enough to play with this version of the Rockets. And while the series will undoubtedly present more complex problems, the Lakers have shown over and over again that they\u2019re game for it.<\/p>\n
Simple as that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n