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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 28: JJ Redick of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts against the Sacramento Kings during the first quarter at Crypto.com Arena on December 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
Second-year Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick is one win away from securing the first playoff series victory of his career.
On Friday night, Redick’s team was on the brink of a loss when the Houston Rockets led by six points with less than 30 seconds left in regulation. The events that followed perfectly encapsulated the Lakers’ fighting spirit, as they not only forced overtime but also secured a stunning 112-108 victory, seizing a 3-0 series lead.
According to ESPN Research, the Lakers became only the second team in the past 30 postseasons to win after trailing by six or more points in the final 30 seconds of regulation, joining the Philadelphia 76ers (2024) on the elusive list.
The incredible come-from-behind win led Redick to deliver a rousing speech to his team in the locker room, as seen in the video below.
“That was the ultimate test of our poise and composure,” Redick said.
“You guys just kept playing,” added the Duke alum, listing the various plays at the end of regulation that forced overtime.
“…We got into overtime, and it’s not pretty. I made mistakes. We made a couple of game plan mistakes, a couple of coverage mistakes. But you kept playing.
“We just kept playing.”
“…We can close this thing out on Sunday,” Redick said, urging his teammates to sweep the Rockets and advance to the second round of the playoffs.
“That’s our mindset. Elevate your recovery… tonight took a lot out of all of us. Stay ready for Sunday. Great win tonight!”
Although LeBron James made the key three-pointer to force overtime on Friday, Marcus Smart was arguably the Lakers’ MVP on both ends of the floor.
The 2022 Defensive Player of the Year finished with 21 points, 10 assists, five steals and two blocks, including scoring eight of his team’s 11 points in the overtime period.
After Friday’s win, Smart — who made several deep playoff runs during his years with the Boston Celtics — urged his teammates to adopt a killer mentality ahead of Game 4.
“For us, we’re just trying to have that killer mentality right now,” Smart said, via LakersNation.
“We got them on the ropes and it’s our job to try to finish and their job to fight back. That’s been JJ’s motto all year, bend don’t break. I think we really took that to head for us, we lived it, instilled it in us, and you see that the way we played these three games.
“But we gotta be like a lion. We gotta have that killer instinct. We got them on the ground, we just gotta finish them off and keep our foot on their neck.”
The Lakers now have the luxury of sitting Austin Reaves (oblique) and Luka Doncic (hamstring) the rest of the way against the Rockets and potentially bringing back the injured guards in the second round — which won’t start until the first week of May.
Sai Mohan covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided's Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan
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