The two-week LeBron James absence came to an end on Saturday night as the Los Angeles Lakers marched a relatively fully healthy roster onto the Crypto.com arena floor for the first time in weeks. Not only did LeBron make his return, but Rui Hachimura also followed in limited minutes after missing significant time due to an injury. What didn’t go to plan was the 31-point thrashing Los Angeles took at the hands of the Chicago Bulls. That said, what we can take from this game is that Lakers head coach JJ Redick has his full roster back, and despite the loss, there is good to take from that. With 12 games remaining, Redick has one goal on his mind.
Lakers’ JJ Redick Has Top-Six Seed On His Mind
Los Angeles Lakers Aiming For Top Six Seed; HC JJ Redick Wants Rest For His Players
All playoff-bound teams can benefit from a week’s rest during the play-in phase. However, the Lakers might be one of the few who need the rest the most, considering LeBron’s age. That week’s rest between the final regular season game and the first playoff game would be a significant advantage for the Lakers. It’s what Redick aspires to achieve as the regular season winds down when he talked about finishing in the Western Conference’s top six after last night’s loss to the Bulls, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
“I think that’s a good way to look at it. … ground zero. These next 12 games, you’ve got to refind your way. It’s a perpetually flowing river that we’ve all of a sudden run into a beaver’s (dam) … and we got to get ready to get the water flowing again.”
Redick’s hopes of capturing one of those top six seeds would look very different from where the Lakers have ended their seasons in the past couple of years. LA finished the 2023 and 2024 seasons in seventh place as a play-in team. They managed to make it out of the play-in each time but were bounced by the Denver Nuggets in both playoff runs. It’s likely that if the Lakers fell into a play-in scenario this season again, they would advance anyway. However, that’s a risk no team wants to take, the Lakers included.
Not Taking Remaining Schedule Lightly
What the Lakers must do with their reaming games is take each opponent seriously. They don’t have the easiest schedule remaining, and there could be a trap game here and there. LA hits the road for four games, stopping in Orlando, Chicago, Memphis, and Indiana. After that, they meet Oklahoma City in back-to-back games, Dallas, Houston, and Portland to end things off. The two bouts with the Thunder jump out immediately, as that has the potential to be a future playoff match. That said, the rest of the Lakers’ games are all challenging but winnable, and a loss like the one they suffered against Chicago last night won’t help matters.
It would appear that LA will jockey with Denver and Memphis for the rest of the season. Both teams are sandwiched with the Lakers in the 3, 4, and 5 seeds, and all three teams sport almost identical records, minus one win or one loss. The Lakers would like to get their hands on the third seed, but as Redick sees it, as long as they end in the top six, that’s a win he’ll happily take.
© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The post Lakers’ JJ Redick Has Top-Six Seed On His Mind appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.