Throughout a long NBA season, teams often have little time to hold full practice sessions because of the travel schedule, fatigue, injuries and so forth.
The Los Angeles Lakers have had a crowded schedule over the last few weeks, but they have gotten a bit of a respite this week with two full days off after big wins over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday and the Houston Rockets on Monday. They will face another game with playoff implications on Thursday against the streaking Golden State Warriors.
They were able to hold a practice session on Wednesday, and head coach JJ Redick said they worked on one thing in particular: end-game situations.
JJ Redick on the focus of a rare practice on Wednesday following a 17-game month of March: “Worked on some defensive stuff, but really focused on end-game situations on both ends.”
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) April 2, 2025
One example: working on inbounds passes in critical situations.
Los Angeles has played a number of close games lately -- in fact, each of its last four games was decided by seven points or fewer. It infamously lost to the Chicago Bulls last Thursday 119-117 due to multiple inexcusable miscues in the final seconds after it had forged a 115-110 advantage.
But it won the other three games it played during that span, and while it sits in fourth place in the Western Conference, it has a real chance of moving up in the standings. It currently trails the third-place Denver Nuggets by just half a game and the second-place Houston Rockets by 2.5 games.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: JJ Redick on what Lakers worked on during rare practice on Wednesday
