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Dave McMenamin
Multiple Authors
LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach JJ Redick doesn’t know what seed his team will earn in the Western Conference playoffs standings, with Nos. 3-4 in play heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
But he knows that with Luka Doncic sidelined because of a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and Austin Reaves out because of a Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury, no one will be afraid of his team.
In fact, Redick believes the other West teams that still have their seeding to be determined would prefer L.A. as their first-round opponent.
“I’m sure everybody wants to play us,” Redick said before the Lakers’ 101-73 win at home over the Phoenix Suns on Friday. “Let’s get that out there, like, everybody wants to play us.”
Lakers guard Luke Kennard said he is fine with L.A. being overlooked.
“I guess you understand why people are saying that,” said Kennard, who had 19 points against Phoenix, continuing his strong play since Doncic and Reaves went out. “You’re missing 60 points a game, and yeah, it’s definitely out there, and I’m sure people are thinking about that and what we’re missing. But we also have [LeBron James], and the way he’s been playing and leading us has been incredible, and obviously, we’re going to need him to continue to do that.”
James had 28 points, 12 assists and six rebounds Friday and has averaged 28 points on 60% shooting (46.2% from 3), 12.7 assists and 7.7 rebounds in his past three games since L.A.’s star backcourt got hurt.
“I had to tap back into a role that I’ve been accustomed to in the past, but obviously, it wasn’t what it was this year,” James said. “But circumstances have put me back in there, and I’m just trying to feed off my teammates, teammates are feeding off of me and just trying to make things happen for us to continue to stay afloat.”
With the win over Phoenix, the Lakers (52-29) clinched, at worst, the No. 4 seed in the West. They are one game behind the No. 3 seed Denver Nuggets (53-28).
The Lakers hold the tiebreaker over Denver by virtue of winning their season series. Minnesota, which is locked into the No. 6 seed, defeated the No. 5 seed Houston Rockets (51-30) 136-132 in Houston on Friday.
Denver defeated the West’s No. 1 team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, 127-107 on Friday.
Though OKC has clinched the No. 1 seed and rested 10 of its players, Denver also sat out seven players — including Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon — on Friday, even though the Nuggets’ seeding is still undecided.
Without naming any teams, Redick seemed to allude to Denver’s lineup decision.
“[Teams] are in a position where they can start looking forward to potential second-round matchups as well,” Redick said. “We see some of those teams rest their entire lineup basically, so they — we can’t be concerned with all of that.
“Again, I’ll say what I told the team yesterday, what I told you guys after the game — we have to figure out the formula and the belief for this group to be successful. And so, that’s our focus for tonight, and that’s going to be our focus on Sunday.”
L.A. closes out its schedule at home against the Utah Jazz (22-59).
If the Lakers beat the Jazz and the Nuggets lose to the West’s No. 2 seed, the San Antonio Spurs, in their season finale, L.A. will secure the No. 3 seed and host Minnesota for a second straight year.
If the Lakers and Nuggets win, L.A. will be the No. 4 seed and host Houston.
After the game against Phoenix, Redick put his team’s spot in perspective.
“Every year I’ve ever been in the NBA, your goal is to win a championship,” Redick said. “That’s your goal. When you represent the Lakers and you play for the Lakers and you coach the Lakers, that’s their goal every year. That’s our fans’ goal every year. Let’s not discredit what this group did for the regular season, regardless of what happens in the playoffs. Because to clinch home court and to win 52 games, possibly 53 games, deal with the amount of adversity we had. … It’s a credit to our players. It’s a credit to our staff for just persevering and just keeping our head down and doing the work.”