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In their darkest playoff hour, Lakers coach JJ Redick advised his players during practice Sunday to take the same mental approach for the win-or-go-home Game 4 that they’ve used since the first day of training camp.
The Lakers trail the Oklahoma City Thunder 3-0 in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series. The Lakers must beat the Thunder at Crypto.com Arena on Monday night or their season is over.
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“Our first slide that we put up in training camp was [to] win the day,” Redick said. “Today was a quick offensive review and then just going over some stuff defensively. Got to win today and we got to win tomorrow. We know what we’re facing being down 3-0. So it’s just more of a mindset check than anything else.”
No NBA team has ever come back to win a series when trailing 3-0, with those teams holding a 161-0 record.
Those are the long odds the Lakers face.
Read more: Without Luka Doncic, Thunder series is a lose-lose for Lakers
Redick was asked what his team’s mood was like at practice.
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“These guys are good,” he said.
Redick then was asked what his squad has shown him that gives him hope the Lakers can still win.
“Affirmation,” he responded.
Even after losing three games by an average of 19.6 points per game, the Lakers still cling to some hope.
Rui Hachimura has been on what Redick called a “heater” from three-point range. He has made 57.1% of his threes and has shot 54.1% from the floor in the series, averaging 18.3 points per game.
Hachimura thought back to the Lakers’ first-round series against the Houston Rockets and how they had a commanding 3-0 lead. But the Rockets fought back to make the series 3-2 before the Lakers closed out the series.
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“It’s crazy, but I think that’s the mentality we need,” Hachimura said. “I think it’s one at a time. I think especially with this type of team, you can’t really make mistakes. … We have to keep the same energy the whole game. That’s the only way we can win. So, we know what we do.”
What they need to do is play better in the third quarter. The Lakers have been outscored 92-61 in the third quarter by the…
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Publish date : 2026-05-10 23:26:00
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