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Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick said Tuesday’s practice was productive even with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves still sidelined, as the team continues preparing for its first-round series against the Houston Rockets.
“We were. Yeah. Jaxson was back. LeBron was in and had a, you know, an hour, an hour and a half, a lot of live play. Good practice,” Redick said.
With Doncic and Reaves out indefinitely, Redick said the Lakers have to balance short-term preparation with the bigger playoff picture. “Oh yeah. I mean, that’s what we’ve had to do for 82 games for the last two years. So, that’s it’s not any different.”
He said the Lakers are not built around one approach, especially with key scorers unavailable. “Yeah, we’re mindful. I mean, I do think we have other options than just having him have the ball and having to go against the set defense every single possession,” Redick said in reference to LeBron James.
Instead, the Lakers plan to change looks depending on matchups and coverage. “We’ll look to mix in different actions depending on their lineups and depending on their coverages,” Redick said.
Redick also pointed to the work done in recent days to prepare the roster physically. “We mapped this out 10 12 days ago. Wanted to reach certain thresholds and we did. We were tracking it in real time.”
That, he said, made Tuesday’s workout feel businesslike. “So we met those thresholds and thought the guys had a very like businesslike focused approach to today’s practice.”
Asked about the injury timeline, Redick did not offer new information on either star. “No, there’s I mean, look, they’re out indefinitely. I’m not going to have an update for you this week. They’re out indefinitely.”
Houston, he said, presents a straightforward challenge. “Take care of the ball and box out.”
That message came up repeatedly during practice, where Redick said the Lakers started with rebounding work. “We started practice with boxing out today. That’s I mean, you got to put it in their mind and that’s literally the only thing we said about Houston today.”
He stressed that the Rockets’ offensive rebounding and scoring-chance edge will be central to the series. “They’re number four in scoring opportunities. We were number 23. Like, we don’t have the luxury with Luka and AR out of getting killed in scoring opportunities every single game. So, we’ve got to box out.”
Redick also said the Lakers will keep their offense simpler with a shorthanded rotation. “There’s been value in simplicity… we really just started simplifying things when AR went out of the lineup.”
Still, his message for Game 1 was clear. “I think it’s important that we have the right spirit and that we have a belief and certainly winning game one can help with that.”
Los Angeles opens the series against Houston on Saturday, April 18 at 8:30 p.m. ET.
