{"id":309623,"date":"2026-05-11T00:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T00:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/309623\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T00:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T00:32:10","slug":"lakers-refusing-to-quit-down-3-0-heading-into-game-4-vs-thunder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/309623\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers refusing to quit down 3-0 heading into Game 4 vs. Thunder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In their darkest playoff hour, Lakers coach JJ Redick<\/a> advised his players during practice Sunday to take the same mental approach for the win-or-go-home Game 4 that they\u2019ve used since the first day of training camp.<\/p>\n

The Lakers trail the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> 3-0 in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series. The Lakers must beat the Thunder at Crypto.com Arena on Monday night or their season is over.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur first slide that we put up in training camp was [to] win the day,\u201d Redick said. \u201cToday was a quick offensive review and then just going over some stuff defensively. Got to win today and we got to win tomorrow. We know what we\u2019re facing being down 3-0. So it\u2019s just more of a mindset check than anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

No NBA team has ever come back to win a series when trailing 3-0, with those teams holding a 161-0 record.<\/p>\n

Those are the long odds the Lakers face.<\/p>\n

Redick was asked what his team\u2019s mood was like at practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys are good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Redick then was asked what his squad has shown him that gives him hope the Lakers can still win.<\/p>\n

\u201cAffirmation,\u201d he responded.<\/p>\n

Even after losing three games by an average of 19.6 points per game, the Lakers still cling to some hope.<\/p>\n

Rui Hachimura<\/a> has been on what Redick called a \u201cheater\u201d from three-point range. He has made 57.1% of his threes and has shot 54.1% from the floor in the series, averaging 18.3 points per game.<\/p>\n

Hachimura thought back to the Lakers\u2019 first-round series against the Houston Rockets and how they had a commanding 3-0 lead. But the Rockets fought back to make the series 3-2 before the Lakers closed out the series.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy, but I think that\u2019s the mentality we need,\u201d Hachimura said. \u201cI think it\u2019s one at a time. I think especially with this type of team, you can\u2019t really make mistakes. … We have to keep the same energy the whole game. That\u2019s the only way we can win. So, we know what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lakers <\/p>\n

Lakers star LeBron James plays against the Thunder in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals on Saturday.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

What they need to do is play better in the third quarter. The Lakers have been outscored 92-61 in the third quarter by the Thunder.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like every game we\u2019re getting closer,\u201d Hachimura said. \u201cEspecially last night … apparently we had the best offensive game of the series, even the playoffs. I think we had really good looks, great looks. But I think defensively we, especially in the third quarter, we kind of slowed down. I don\u2019t know [if] we got burned out or we got tired, whatever.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I think our focus is like how we play in the first half we have to do in the whole game. … That\u2019s going to be our goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lakers have managed to slow down Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander by having Marcus Smart guard him and putting constant double teams on the reigning NBA most valuable player.<\/p>\n

Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 21.0 points per game in the series, far below the 31.1 points he averaged during the regular season. He\u2019s averaging 5.7 assists per game, which is below his 6.6 during the regular season, and he\u2019s shooting 45.8%, which is below his 55.3% for the season. He\u2019s averaging four turnovers in the series as well.<\/p>\n

But Chet Holmgren, who is averaging a double-double in the series at 21.3 points per game and 10.0 rebounds, has been a handful for the Lakers. Ajay Mitchell is averaging 20.7 points per game and 6.6 assists.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the Lakers are on the verge of seeing their season end. The Lakers have faced adversity all season, but Game 4 will be the ultimate test.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing on the Lakers, you feel like your back\u2019s against the wall every game,\u201d Redick said. \u201cSo I think the whole season has prepared us to be in a position where we\u2019re in the second round of the Western Conference and being in the mix with a great basketball team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In their darkest playoff hour, Lakers coach JJ Redick advised his players during practice Sunday to take the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309624,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[6265,24385,423,7006,48,52,51,1415,47,50,49,129982,9442,1417,129983,1414,20293,278,425,14921,31143],"class_list":["post-309623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-assist","tag-first-day","tag-game","tag-houston-rockets","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-lakers","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-nba-team","tag-player","tag-point","tag-practice-sunday","tag-redick","tag-rui-hachimura","tag-season","tag-series","tag-third-quarter","tag-thunder"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}