JJ Redick spoke to reporters after the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 107-96 win over the Phoenix Suns. When talking about the unsung heroes of the team, Redick couldn’t help but applaud the performance of Jordan Goodwin. He noted that while Goodwin didn’t impact the box score, he did make a massive difference for the Lakers with his hustle and energy.
“I’ll say this. Never judge a player based solely on his box score. Jordan Goodwin was incredible tonight, and he had 2 points and 4 fouls. He set the tone for us.”
Goodwin, as Redick mentioned, put up just two points (1-5 FG), three rebounds, one assist, and two blocks. But his presence on the court, along with the effort he put in on both ends of the court, allowed the Lakers to grab the game by the horns and see out what turned out to be a very important win for them.
Luka Doncic credited the entire team’s performance in their win over the Suns. Meanwhile, Austin Reaves celebrated him and Luka for being able to build chemistry during their win over the Suns. This was a much-needed win for the Lakers, who were coming off a 0-4 road trip that looked like it could derail all the positive momentum they had built up throughout the course of the season.
The Lakers now sit fifth in the Western Conference with a 41-25 record. They are two games behind the Rockets, Nuggets, and Grizzlies, who are all tied at 43-25 for the season. Realistically, the Lakers could win their next few games and leapfrog at least two, if not all three teams in the West standings. The race for the second seed in the West is heating up as we enter the final stretch of the 2024-25 NBA campaign.
Redick Celebrates Bounce-Back Win
During his press conference, Redick praised the resolve of the Los Angeles Lakers after what had been a tough road trip that ended with a heartbreaking loss to the Denver Nuggets. He noted that not only did the players endure a grueling schedule away from home, but they came out the door playing harder than the Suns. Redick clearly loved what he saw.
“It’s very abnormal for a team to come back from an East Coast trip, and that next game, the day after the trip, come out with more energy than the other team and play harder than the other team. On top of that, we had a back-to-back, and we lost a crushing game on Friday night.”
“It was dispiriting to lose that game. For our guys to come back with an early start and be the harder-playing team from the beginning, that, to me, says everything about our group.”
“On top of that, this was such a different game than anything we played recently, and it was particularly polar opposite to the Denver game in terms of gameplay and what we were trying to get offensively. They were just two very different games. They were able to execute in Denver, and they were able to execute tonight.”
“It helped that Luka [Doncic], Doe [Finney-Smith], Gabe [Vincent], and Jaxson [Hayes] were awesome. Just the transition from one thing to the next, coming off four losses, our group was phenomenal.”
The Lakers got several players back tonight, like Luka Doncic, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Jaxson Hayes. The hope is that in the coming weeks, LeBron James and Rui Hachimura can return to the team so that the Lakers can be at full strength heading into the playoffs.
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