After a defensive battle in Game 2, Lakers head coach JJ Redick is expecting more of the same moving forward in the series against the Wolves.
If there was any doubt before the start of the playoffs, the first two games between the Lakers and Wolves made clear the tone of the series. Minnesota punched the Lakers in the mouth in Game 1 before the purple and gold responded in Game 2 in a rock fight between the two teams.
That term was one mentioned often after the game and it’s something head coach JJ Redick brought up postgame.
“We weren’t ready for a rock fight to start Game 1,” Redick said. “I’ve seen enough of these and been in enough of these that you can have these low-scoring games and sort of low offensive output games that are really physical and all of a sudden, somebody starts making threes, there’s a few turnovers that leads to a high transition half and somebody scores 120. That’s just kind of how basketball works. Every game is a little different, but I think the mentality from both teams is to have a rock fight.”
To his point, Game 1 featured Minnesota having a big offensive showing, pouring in 117 points behind incredible 3-point shooting. Are the Lakers capable of that type of performance?
Well, the offense was better in Game 2. And LeBron James spoke postgame about the team having a better process on that end of the floor even if the open shots didn’t fall.
If the team is able to convert that process into results, perhaps they can be the team that has a big offensive on the road to steal a win.
However, that’s not going to change the mindset the two teams are going enter games with. The Wolves want to be physical and the Lakers showed they can answer that challenge. Which means the remaining games of the series very well may be a rock fight moving forward.
Welcome back to the 1990s, I suppose!
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.