JJ Redick’s defiant message after Game 3 loss puts Lakers on brink of elimination

LOS ANGELES – One more game could be all that’s left in the season. The Los Angeles Lakers couldn’t find any answers in their Game 3 loss to an Oklahoma City Thunder team that has overwhelmed them in the second half of three consecutive games now. But as the Lakers stand on the brink of elimination, head coach JJ Redick is not ready to concede the series.

Following the Lakers’ Game 3 loss to the Thunder, JJ Redick defiantly stated that the team still has every intention to win Game 4 on Monday and continue to extend this series for as long as they can.

“I’m not giving up on the series. And we’re gonna go try to win on Monday,” Redick said. “We’re gonna try to extend the series and we’re trying to take this thing back to OKC.”

But for the Lakers to get a win in this series, they’re going to have to figure out how to address the problems that have plagued them in the second half of each game in this series. Game 3 followed a similar script to the first two games in that the Lakers were neck-and-neck with the Thunder, trading blow for blow, only to seemingly run out of gas.

The Lakers even held a lead at halftime in Game 3, 59-57, only to be blitzed by the Thunder, 74-49, in the second half. Turnovers plagued the Lakers as they coughed the basketball up 17 times leading to 30 points for the Thunder. And with potentially one game remaining in the season, they are running out of answers.

“Third straight game we’re right there after two and half quarters,” Redick said. “We tried different lineups, tried different coverages, still lost those minutes again.”

It was Ajay Mitchell who tortured the Lakers again in Game 3. He’s been a thorn in their side all series long, especially in the minutes that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is off the floor. Mitchell had his best game of the playoffs thus far, finishing with a game-high 24 points and dishing out 10 assists.

He got into the paint at will and consistently burned the Lakers’ defense. It wasn’t just Mitchell though as the Thunder continued to get contributions from their supporting cast. Jared McCain, a difference-maker in Games 1 and 2, was a little quieter on Saturday. But the duo of Cason Wallace and Isaiah Joe came off the bench to drop 16 and 12 points, respectively.

The Thunder’s superior depth has shown in this series, especially with All-Star forward Jalen Williams still sidelined with a hamstring injury. It’s made it difficult for Redick to find something that works consistently considering the fact that the Thunder can seemingly adjust to anything the Lakers try and through at them.

“Typically, if you can poke holes at a team in a playoff series, there’s a good chance they might have a temporary solution, or can sort of adjust maybe a little bit,” Redick said. “This team, in game, because of their personnel, can adjust like that. They need shooting on the floor, great. They need multiple wing defenders on the floor, great. They need two bigs on the floor, great.”

But even so, that defiant mentality remains. The Lakers haven’t quit all season long despite some of the adversity that’s been thrown their way, and they don’t intend to now even with the odds stacked against them. No team in NBA history has ever come back from being down 0-3 in a playoff series.

They’re a terrific basketball team. I said that before the series, I’ve been very impressed with them,” Redick continued. “I still think we can beat them, but we got to be better.”

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