The Lakers managed to secure a Western semifinals matchup against the Thunder after they closed out the Rockets in Game 6 of their first-round series. Ahead of Game 1 of that series, the Lakers’ head coach, JJ Redick, spoke to the media and admitted that the Thunder is not a team to be taken lightly.
“Each player has had a level of playoff adversity and built scar tissue or confidence in the ability to work through that. I think each group has to do that,” said Redick as he began assessing the Lakers’ playoff journey before going up against the Thunder.
“It was a hard-fought series against Houston, and every level you go up in the playoffs, it just gets harder. That’s just the reality. The last three weeks, we talked about elevating; we have to now elevate even more.”
“We saw a stat in our morning meeting, teams that have had back-to-back, 10 or more better net ratings in consecutive seasons, you’re talking about the ’95-’96 Bulls and ’96-’97 Bulls, and the ’15-’17 Warriors. You’re literally talking about two of the greatest teams of all time.”
“I said to a bunch of people yesterday, off-site, talking about this series, to me, the Thunder is one of the greatest teams ever in NBA history. It’s just the reality. They’re that good. I think our guys recognize that and respect that, and we know what kind of task we have in front of us.”
The Thunder’s team net rating for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons are both in the top 10 list of all-time team ratings for an entire regular season. Here is the list of the top 10 teams and their respective average net ratings for the NBA’s regular season.
1. Bulls (1995-96): 13.4
2. Thunder (2024-25): 12.8
3. Bulls (1996-97): 12.0
4. Warriors (2016-17): 11.6
5. Celtics (2023-24): 11.6
6. Spurs (2015-16): 11.3
7. Celtics (2007-08): 11.2
8. Thunder (2025-26): 11.1
9. Bulls (1991-92): 11.0
10. Bucks (1970-71): 10.9
JJ Redick further dove into the Lakers’ key focus, going into the matchup against the Lakers, which will be taking care of the ball. He also took a veiled shot at the Rockets while talking about what to expect from the defending champions.
“The reality of their defense is that whatever moments we felt Houston pressuring, like the maximum amount of pressure they put on us, that’s OKC’s baseline. That’s their floor,” Redick said.
“They’re top-five in every category that’s disruptive-base: Steals, blocks, turnovers forced, all that stuff. And they don’t foul. They somehow do all of that without fouling, which is one of the most remarkable things I think in NBA history,” Redick concluded.
The Thunder also had the second-lowest (12.6) turnovers per game this season [behind the Celtics’ 12.4 per game], which means they know how to take care of the ball very well. Moreover, they were in the top three in the league for average steals in the regular season (9.7), tied with the Warriors (9.7) and behind the Pistons (10.4).
Hence, the ball will be the key focus for the Lakers on both ends of the floor if they want to have any chance in this matchup, especially without their primary ball handler, Luka Doncic, for the start of the series.
The Lakers are now heading to Oklahoma for Game 1 of their series on Tuesday, May 5. It will be interesting to see if the Lakers can take care of the ball on the road or if they fumble it hard and get punched in the mouth in the very first game.
