The Los Angeles Lakers are officially in the NBA regular season's final stretch. Only five games separate the Lakers from the 2024-25 postseason, and some of the matchups are pivotal, including the following two taking place against the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder.
Even though the Lakers' 'Big 3' — LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves — are capable of sinking shots with the Thunder and the rest of the best offenses the NBA has to offer, the trio's defense has come into question in recent weeks. Naturally, Los Angeles fans are worried if those issues will be detrimental to the team's future potential playoff success.
Having said that, if you ask head coach JJ Redick about those worries, he clearly isn't losing any sleep over the situation.
JJ Redick Confident in Big 3 Amid Defensive Slump
Following Friday's 124-108 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, Redick told reporters he isn't worried about the Big 3's defensive shortcomings. If anything, the Lakers expected the trio to have some rough patches after Doncic was acquired from the Dallas Mavericks in February.
"I don’t make a ton of it, Redick said about the Big 3's defensive struggles, per The Orange County Register's Khobi Price. I don’t think the expectation, at least internally for us, was we’re going to be the 2016-2017 Warriors or this year’s Oklahoma City Thunder. We didn’t expect that. So the disjointedness of an in-season trade is there."
Even though the expected struggles eventually materialized, Redick is confident that his star players will do what it takes to weather any storm.
"Those guys are committed to making it work with each other when they’re on the court, the Lakers coach added. They’re committed to making it work when there are two of them are on the court or one of them is on the court. It’s a work in progress. We all knew that was gonna be the case."
Lakers confident in chemistry for Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves https://t.co/4NjsrvTQeM
— O.C. Register (@ocregister) April 5, 2025
It might be a small sample size, but the Lakers' defense has noticeably improved throughout the last week. They've held their last three opponents to 109.7 points on a 45.8% field-goal percentage. During that stretch, Los Angeles' Big 3 has outscored the opposition by 11.4 points per 100 possessions when they're on the floor, according to Price.
How James, Doncic, and Reaves perform against the Thunder in the coming days will reveal if the trio's recently improved defensive play is legitimate. Oklahoma City is currently averaging 119.8 PPG (4th) while shooting 47.9% from the floor (7th) and 37.3% from deep (6th).
Having said that, the Lakers played well defensively in their lone previous meeting against the Thunder this season, holding the latter to .409/.325/.750 shooting splits in a 101-93 loss on Nov. 29.
Hopefully, Redick's Big 3 will maintain their newfound defensive success into the postseason. Speaking of which, the Lakers are entering the final stretch with the fifth-best 2024-25 NBA Finals odds (+1900) on FanDuel Sportsbook.
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