HOUSTON — Satisfaction is for the weary. Even on the precipice of clinching a spot in the Western Conference semifinals, Lakers coach JJ Redick sees room for improvement.
“We just didn’t do the job, executing,” Redick told reporters during a conference call on Saturday morning, after the Lakers took a 3-0 lead over the Houston Rockets in their first-round playoff series with a 112-108 overtime win on Friday night. “I said this after the game to the guys, ‘We can be better, and we will be better.’”
Game 3 was a messy spectacle.
The Lakers led by as many as 15 points in the first half, carrying a lead into the second, third and fourth quarters. They squandered their advantage in the fourth, trailing by six points with less than 30 seconds to go in regulation. That was before Marcus Smart came up with a steal and got fouled attempting a 3-point shot; and before LeBron James poked the ball away from Rockets guard Reed Sheppard before getting the ball back to sink a game-tying 3-pointer with 13 seconds left.
The Lakers went on to win in overtime, outlasting a Rockets squad that appeared to finally discover its pulse before it crumbled. No NBA team has ever won a best-of-seven series after falling behind 3-0. The odds, once stacked heavily against the Lakers (without Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic for the first three games), are now squarely in their favor.
“Absolutely not,” Bronny James said Friday night when asked if the Lakers ever thought about throwing in the towel late in Game 3 for a refreshed mindset in Game 4. “It’s the Lakers. Anything could happen. I mean, it’s the NBA. … I never have a doubt on this team, especially when we have the guys that we have on the court.”
Bronny James might be the ideal measuring stick for how the Lakers have changed out of necessity since mid-March.
When the Lakers last came to Houston, defeating the Rockets twice in three days, Rockets coach Ime Udoka appeared to tell Redick to put Bronny James in the game. LeBron James’ son, the second-year guard, had rarely played when the Lakers were at full health.
Bronny James was not part of the Lakers’ nine-man rotation a month ago. But the early April injuries to Doncic and Reaves forced rotational adjustments, and he’s been getting regular playoff minutes. On Friday, the USC product made a 3-pointer and was on the receiving end of an alley-oop layup from his father in the second quarter.
“You see the five points, but his attention to detail, his defensive mindset, his prowess on the ball guarding, defending … for him to be confident in the work that he’s put in to step up and make that shot, and then run the floor and be able to catch that lob,” LeBron James said.
By the end of the night, those five points outpaced the Rockets’ three total bench points. Bronny’s five points were also the difference between a victory and a loss – the Lakers needing every contribution to get the game to overtime.
“(He) has just improved a lot even in this season from when he was getting some rotation minutes earlier in the year to when he’s gotten rotation minutes late in the season, has just gotten a lot better defensively,” Redick said. “His physicality’s been really good. His execution’s been really good. Excited for him.”
Redick referenced a conversation he had with LeBron after Bronny was drafted. The difference between coaching Bronny James and coaching LeBron James’ son, Redick said, was important to the Lakers star. The four-time league MVP didn’t want his eldest son treated any differently than the other Lakers players.
Two years into Bronny James’ NBA career, in the postseason spotlight, cries of nepotism will have to wait for the bench minutes the Lakers actually need from the 21-year-old guard.
“We’ve kind of, as a staff, been able to pour into Bronny, and we’re really excited with his growth,” Redick said. “I know Bron, for him, as a father, is super proud of the growth Bronny’s had over the last two years, and last night (was) a really, cool moment in that stretch in the second quarter.”
For LeBron James, the opportunity to play in the playoffs alongside his son – even coming together for a meme-able moment when they tied up Rockets center Alperen Sengun for a jump ball – is always a “Wow,” internally, he said.
“Every moment, not just him but young players, the amount of confidence that a young kid in our league can get from a postseason game is like, a regular-season game would never, you will never get nervous from a regular-season moment ever again when you play meaningful postseason games and postseason minutes,” LeBron James said.
“And (Bronny James has) done that and I think that’s pretty cool for his career, for his confidence,” he added. “(Expletive), I’ve done enough.”
NOTES
Udoka told reporters Saturday that leading scorer Kevin Durant (ankle sprain), who has sat out two of the first three games of the series, underwent treatment throughout Game 3, including underwater treadmill recovery.
“When he can get back, he’ll be back,” Udoka said, adding that guards Josh Okogie (back tightness) and Aaron Holiday (adductor issue) were dealing with ailments that forced them into limited minutes in Game 3.
For the Lakers, Reaves remains questionable with a left oblique strain for Sunday night’s Game 4.
LAKERS AT ROCKETS
What: First-round series, Game 4
When: Sunday, 6:30 p.m. PT
Where: Toyota Center, Houston
TV/Radio: Ch. 4, 710 AM
