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Dave McMenamin
Multiple Authors
LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach JJ Redick doesn’t know what seed his team will earn in the Western Conference playoffs standings, with Nos. 3-5 all in play heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
But he knows that with Luka Doncic sidelined because of a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and Austin Reaves out because of a Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury, no one will be afraid of his team.
In fact, Redick believes that the other West teams that still have their seeding to be determined will prefer L.A. as their first-round opponent.
“I’m sure everybody wants to play us,” Redick said before the Lakers’ 101-73 win at home over the Phoenix Suns on Friday. “Let’s get that out there, like, everybody wants to play us.”
The Lakers (52-29) are No. 4 in the West — one game behind the No. 3 Denver Nuggets (53-28).
The Lakers hold the tiebreaker over Denver and the Houston Rockets (51-30) by virtue of winning their season series against both teams. Minnesota, which is locked into No. 6, defeated the 5th-seeded Rockets, 136-132, in Houston on Friday.
Denver defeated the West’s No. 1 team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, on Friday, 127-107.
Though OKC has clinched No. 1 and rested 10 of its players, Denver also sat out seven players — including Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon — on Friday, even though the Nuggets’ seeding is still undecided.
Without naming any teams, Redick seemed to allude to Denver’s lineup decision.
“[Teams] are in a position where they can start looking forward to potential second-round matchups as well,” Redick added. “We see some of those teams rest their entire lineup basically, so they — we can’t be concerned with all of that.
“Again, I’ll say what I told the team yesterday, what I told you guys after the game, we have to figure out the formula and the belief for this group to be successful. And so, that’s our focus for tonight, and that’s going to be our focus on Sunday.”
L.A. closes out its schedule at home against the Utah Jazz (22-59).
