Redick is motivated.
The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns 101-73 on Friday night and clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
For a team that has been dealing with injuries and constant outside noise all season, locking in that home-court edge felt bigger than the final score.
After the game, JJ Redick took a step back from the playoff talk and made a point to give his team its flowers for the regular season as a whole.
Redick Credits the Group
"Let's not discredit what this group did for the regular season, you know, regardless of what happens in the playoffs," Redick said postgame. "Because to clinch home court and to win 52 games, possibly 53 games, and deal with the amount of adversity we had, not just with injuries, but again with the loudness that is just going to be out there with our team 'cause it's the Lakers, it's a credit to our players."
He wasn't done there, either, adding that the coaching staff and the players both had to find ways to grow through a season full of adjustments.
"We've coached a bunch of different ways this year. Our players had to adjust. Players made sacrifices," Redick said. "A lot of these guys, as I talked about, are in contract years. And it's been, I think for everybody, a really great opportunity to grow as players, as coaches, as people."
That growth showed up Friday when LeBron James carried the offense with 28 points, 12 assists and six rebounds while also crossing the 12,000 career assists mark in the first half.
At 41 years old and averaging 20.9 points, 7.1 assists and 6.1 rebounds on the season, James did it all on the second night of a back-to-back after dropping 26 against the Warriors on Thursday.
The Playoff Picture and Why Houston Might Be the Better Draw
The Lakers sit at 52-29, one game behind Denver's 53-28 record, but Los Angeles holds the tiebreaker over the Nuggets and can still grab the third seed with a win on Sunday against Utah combined with a Denver loss at San Antonio.
As it stands, the projected first-round matchup has the fourth-seeded Lakers facing the fifth-seeded Houston Rockets at 51-30. That matchup might actually work in the Lakers' favor.
Houston is a young team still figuring out the playoff stage, and even without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves in the short term, the Lakers have the postseason experience and depth to make it a real series.
Luke Kennard stepped into a bigger role and scored 19 against the Suns, while Rui Hachimura chipped in 13 as the secondary options showed they can hold things down.
The biggest question heading into the postseason is whether Doncic and Reaves can return at some point during the first round, and the Lakers' job between now and then is simple.
Redick has already laid it out clearly, and his players have bought in on that mentality.
Win what you can, stay healthy, and extend the season long enough for the stars to come back.