Redick praised his players finding their roles in March.
The Los Angeles Lakers went 15-2 in March and capped it off with a 127-113 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night, pushing their record to 50-26 on the season and locking them into the third seed in the Western Conference.
That stretch turned a good team into a scary one heading into the playoffs, and after the game, head coach JJ Redick pointed to something beyond talent when asked what changed.
"I think it's much easier when you have a consistent stretch of health to sort of not not even buy in, but settle in to roles and minutes and rotations," Redick said. "We never found that throughout the season. Another big part of that was the second part of roles is just, guys really just embracing things."
Health Finally Let Them Settle In
For most of the year, the Lakers were dealing with injuries and shuffling their rotation constantly.
Luka Doncic missed time early, LeBron James sat out the first 14 games of the season with sciatica, and Austin Reaves dealt with a calf issue that kept him in and out of the lineup.
That kind of inconsistency makes it hard for anyone to find a rhythm, let alone an entire roster trying to figure out who does what and when.
But March was different. The core group stayed healthy enough to build real continuity, and what followed was one of the best stretches any team has had all season.
The Lakers rattled off a nine-game winning streak during the month, which included a 60-point eruption from Doncic against the Miami Heat and a dominant road trip where they went 5-1.
Doncic became just the 10th player in NBA history to score 600 points in a single month, and he passed Kobe Bryant for the most points in a single month in Lakers history along the way.
Stars Played Like Stars, and the Role Guys Stepped Up
The biggest reason for the surge starts with Doncic, who averaged close to 40 points during the month and scored 42 with 12 assists in Tuesday night's win over Cleveland.
He is averaging 33.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game this season, and the MVP conversation has found him right in the middle of it.
LeBron James leaned into a facilitator role that helped the whole offense breathe, finishing the Cavaliers game with 14 points, six assists and five rebounds while making the plays that kept everything moving without needing to dominate the ball.
Austin Reaves averaged 21.7 points and 5.9 assists in March, continuing to prove he belongs as one of the best young guards in the league.
And then there were the role players who made a real difference.
Deandre Ayton put up 18 and nine against Cleveland, Rui Hachimura chipped in 14, and Jaxson Hayes has been a revelation over the past few weeks with his energy, rim protection and improved pick-and-roll processing.
That is what Redick was talking about.
The health opened the door, but the willingness of everyone from LeBron to Hayes to accept their roles and play within them is what pushed the Lakers from a good team to a 15-2 month and a second straight 50-win season.
Tuesday's win also marked Redick's 100th career victory as a head coach, making him the first Lakers coach since Phil Jackson to lead the team to back-to-back 50-win campaigns.
With six games left and the playoffs around the corner, the Lakers look like a team that finally knows exactly who it is.