{"id":628647,"date":"2026-04-24T21:27:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T21:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/628647\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T21:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T21:27:11","slug":"swanson-lakers-jj-redick-makes-a-case-that-hes-the-right-coach-for-the-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/628647\/","title":{"rendered":"Swanson: Lakers’ JJ Redick makes a case that he’s the right coach for the playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The only thing that would make the job JJ Redick<\/a> is doing better is if he were wearing a suit.<\/p>\n

If the Lakers<\/a>\u2019 coach looked the part.<\/p>\n

The part of a lawyer, walking down his opposition in the open court. He delivered an airtight opening argument that was stunning for how much stronger it was than opposing coach Ime Udoka\u2019s. And evidence of how far Redick has come.<\/p>\n

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Now, look, your honor: The short-on-star-power Lakers winning both games at home to take a 2-0 series lead over the heavily favored Houston Rockets in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs? That\u2019s a compelling start.<\/p>\n

But Redick, James and Associates are only halfway there; they\u2019re still proving their case.<\/p>\n

They still need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that their top role players can perform as persuasively on the road as they have at home.<\/p>\n

Read more: Lakers’ ‘Swiss Army knife’ Marcus Smart sets the tone against Kevin Durant, Rockets<\/a><\/p>\n

And they\u2019ll probably have to prove they can effectively rebut the Rockets\u2019 adjustments, though those are merely conceptual at this point, they\u2019re so overdue.<\/p>\n

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Two games into this series it looks to us, the members of the jury, as though Redick has taken this allegedly open-and-shut case, this slam dunk of a trial \u2014 and thrown down a reverse.<\/p>\n

The Lakers look like the better team. Like the better-constructed team, even. And that\u2019s without injured stars Luka Doncic<\/a> and Austin Reaves<\/a>, who are hustling back as fast as their bodies will let them from hamstring and oblique injuries, respectively.<\/p>\n

They look like the better-coached team.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the opposing counsel who looks dressed for the part, Udoka in a sweatsuit like a dad at a Saturday morning youth league trying to get his players to get along, with just one play in his pocket: Give the ball to Kevin.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, the legal team minding the game in the Lakers\u2019 huddle is running laps around the guys on the other bench.<\/p>\n

\"LakersCoach JJ Redick and forward LeBron James<\/a> have helped the Lakers earn a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series agains the favored Rockets without injured guards Luke Doncic and Austin Reaves. (Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Exhibit A: One of the game\u2019s greatest scorers, Kevin Durant<\/a>, has been forced by his own team to do a lot of ballhandling chores too. So the Lakers have been double-teaming and blitzing Durant all over the court, compelling him into nine turnovers in Tuesday\u2019s 101-94 Game 2 victory<\/a> at Crypto.com Arena. Using the same strategy, they\u2019ve turned him over 20 times in his last three meetings with the Lakers, going back to the regular season.<\/p>\n

Exhibit B: By playing drop, hedge, man and mixing zone defenses, the Lakers also have been, according to Marcus Smart<\/a>\u2019s postgame testimony, \u201cthrowing different packages\u201d at the Rockets. It\u2019s working: Houston has failed to score 100 points in either game of the series.<\/p>\n

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Exhibit C: The Lakers are putting the ball in Smart\u2019s hands, using him in a way that forces the Rockets to defend honestly, instead of sagging off him. They\u2019ve also been intentional with how they leverage Luke Kennard<\/a>, running actions that overrule his reluctance to shoot. It should please the court to see the man shooting 65.4% (17 for 26) from the field in the first two games!<\/p>\n

With these tactics and others, the Lakers seem almost to be creating new precedent for the laws of basketball, because what do you mean the Rockets have taken 44 more shots but have been outscored by 16 points?<\/p>\n

What makes it so wildly impressive is that before the Lakers brought this thing to trial, it looked as though it would be thrown out on the grounds of insufficient star power.<\/p>\n

With just 41-year-old LeBron James<\/a> to carry them without Doncic and Reaves, Houston seemed so much stronger. Physically, on the boards, in just about every way \u2014 except in terms of chemistry, camaraderie and communication.<\/p>\n

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Even Udoka’s record seemed superior. In 2021-22, his first (and only) season as the Boston Celtics<\/a>\u2019 coach, he led them to the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

Redick, in his first playoffs as a coach last year, showed such contempt for his own team and made an absolute mockery of the game plan that got the Lakers to the postseason in the first place. Remember how he panicked, refusing even to approach the bench to give his preferred five a breather for a full losing half in Game 4 against the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a>? The little tantrum he threw when asked about it before the Game 5 finale?<\/p>\n

The Duke graduate and self-proclaimed \u201cbasketball sicko\u201d has appeared much more prepared this time, much more composed.<\/p>\n

He seems to be in his element, problem-solving alongside his former podcast host, James, who has stepped right up with 47 points, 20 assists and 16 rebounds \u2014 including some highlight-reel dunks and passes \u2014 through the first two games. We are all witnesses.<\/p>\n

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Still, this thing is going to last at least two more games, and possibly more, before we get a verdict.<\/p>\n

And if it goes the Lakers\u2019 way?<\/p>\n

Congratulations, JJ, you will have earned the reputation as a coach who can take on the toughest cases and win them. And do we have an impossible challenge for you next on the docket.<\/p>\n

The top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> are young, deep, and up 2-0 in their first-round series against the Phoenix Suns<\/a>. The defending-champion Thunder have run the Lakers out of court in every meeting this season, beating them by an average of 29 points. And they\u2019re clever too; referees \u2014 those judges on the court \u2014 always seem so sympathetic to OKC.<\/p>\n

Would the Lakers have any chance? Redick is proving he might be able to make a case.<\/p>\n

Sign up for our weekly newsletter on all things Lakers.<\/a><\/p>\n

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The only thing that would make the job JJ Redick is doing better is if he were wearing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,30097,63,726,1664,3181,7220,67416,63857,7216,7896,10213,11473,304712,12843,9034,5665,5548,7185,12419,85,37859],"class_list":{"0":"post-628647","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-austin-reaves","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-basketball","12":"tag-boston-celtics","13":"tag-coach","14":"tag-houston-rockets","15":"tag-ime-udoka","16":"tag-jj-redick","17":"tag-kevin-durant","18":"tag-lebron-james","19":"tag-los-angeles-times","20":"tag-luka-doncic","21":"tag-luke-doncic","22":"tag-luke-kennard","23":"tag-marcus-smart","24":"tag-minnesota-timberwolves","25":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","26":"tag-phoenix-suns","27":"tag-robert-gauthier","28":"tag-sports","29":"tag-the-lakers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}