Why JJ Redick says ‘everybody wants to play us’ as Lakers’ injuries shake up playoffs

The Lakers are wounded. 

They’re ravaged by injuries and playing without their top two scorers. They’re weak and vulnerable as they limp toward the finish line of the regular season. 

And now, the rest of the Western Conference smells blood in the water. 

When Lakers coach JJ Redick told reporters that “everybody wants to play us,” he wasn’t posturing or trying to light a fire under his team. He was stating out loud what everyone from the outside could clearly see. The Lakers, a rising force in the standings just a few weeks ago, have now become an exposed nerve. 

“Let’s get that out there, like, everybody wants to play us,” Redick said Friday. “There’s probably teams in positions that can start looking forward to potential second-round matchups as well. You’ve seen some of those teams rest their entire lineups basically. We can’t be concerned with all that.” 

After a dominant March, the Lakers looked like the team in the West that nobody wanted to face. Led by Luka Doncic playing at an MVP level, and Austin Reaves thriving as the secondary scoring option, the Lakers were firing on all cylinders. They had rhythm, balance and multiple ways to beat you. They weren’t just beating teams, they were dictating everything. 

Then everything unraveled. 

During a blowout loss in Oklahoma City, Doncic suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain and Reaves a Grade 2 oblique tear. With the snap of Thanos’ fingers, nearly 60 points per night disappeared from the Lakers’ rotation. 

Now, they’re asking LeBron James, at 41 years old, to rewind time and become the engine, the initiator and the closer for the Lakers. To carry the team on his back as they drag toward the checkered flag. 

To his credit, James has been brilliant the last two games, but brilliance from just one man won’t be enough once the postseason starts. 

Not in a loaded Western Conference with the Thunder and Spurs separating themselves from the rest of the league. Not against the Nuggets, who casually rested most of their starters including Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray on Friday like they were already thinking a round ahead. 

Around the league, other teams see the same thing. A team missing its top two scorers. A roster asking role players to stretch into something they’re not comfortable or familiar with. A system that is trying to find “nine players to be fully all in.” 

One of those players is Luke Kennard. For most of his nine-year career, he’s been a 3-point specialist off the bench. Now he’s trying to be one of the Lakers’ primary ball handlers and playmakers. 

“You understand why teams want to play us. We’re missing 60 points a game,” said Kennard when asked about Redick’s comments on Friday and if it can be a rallying cry for the team. “But we also have him [James] and the way he’s playing and leading us. We’re going to need him to continue to do that.”

James can’t do it by himself, but to Kennard’s point, there is something dangerous about dismissing a team completely with one of the greatest players of all time still on it. 

Even undermanned, the Lakers have won two straight games against teams that will be in the play-in tournament. That’s a faint pulse, not a flatline. It speaks to this team’s resilience and ability to overcome adversity all season. 

“None of you guys had us in the top four to start the season. Most people had us as a play-in team or even worse,” said Redick of preseason predictions for the Lakers. “We’ve had to manage the expectations of the Lakers and the negativity that surrounds every loss, and I think our group has managed that well.”

By virtue of the Lakers’ victory over the Suns on Friday night, they secured a top-four seed and homecourt advantage in the first round. With a win in the final regular-season game Sunday against the Jazz and a Nuggets loss to the Spurs, they will finish third and face the Timberwolves for the second straight postseason. With a loss or Denver win, they will host the Rockets in the first round. 

Regardless of their first-round opponent, without Doncic and Reaves, the Lakers will be underdogs. Both teams will try to stop James by throwing double- and triple-teams at him, forcing the Lakers’ secondary players to make decisions and beat them. And now, there’s not enough evidence to prove they can. 

Unfortunately, this is the reality in Los Angeles now. The Lakers are vulnerable. Capable but compromised. They will have to punch above their weight to win a playoff series without two of their stars. 

So, yes — everybody wants to play them and rightfully so.

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