J.J. Redick plans to tap into Luka Doncic’s 2024 WCF experience against Wolves: ‘There are nuances’

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Los Angeles Lakers head coach J.J. Redick plans on tapping into star guard Luka Doncic’s experience from the Western Conference Finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves last season.

The Lakers, who earned the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference this season, will face the No. 6-seeded Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs. Minnesota earned the No. 6 spot in the West thanks to the way Sunday’s action unfolded.

“Sunday, shortly after Redick and his players and coaching staff watched the LA Clippers beat the Golden State Warriors in overtime and, as a result, lock in the No. 3 seed Lakers’ first-round opponent as the No. 6 seed Minnesota Timberwolves, the coach said he will tap into Doncic’s experience against the Wolves last spring,” ESPN’s Dave McMenamin wrote.

“‘There are nuances to what teams are trying to do against certain opponents,’ Redick said when asked about the benefit of discussing the result of last year’s Western Conference finals with Doncic to get the Lakers ready for Minnesota next weekend.”

Doncic dominated against Minnesota in the Western Conference Finals last season, and he ultimately led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. During the series against the Timberwolves, Doncic averaged 32.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game while shooting 47.3 percent from the field and 43.4 percent from beyond the arc.

Doncic had four games with over 30 points in the series, and Dallas knocked out the Wolves in just five games.

After being traded to the Lakers ahead of the trade deadline a couple months ago, Doncic averaged 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game with L.A. in the regular season.

The Lakers have made some massive strides this season, as they avoided the play-in tournament in the West for the first time in a while. After winning the title in the 2019-20 season, the Lakers had to survive the play-in tournament to make the playoffs in the 2020-21, 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. Los Angeles missed the playoffs entirely in the 2021-22 campaign.

Hopefully, Doncic’s experience against Minnesota in a playoff series will give the Lakers a glimpse into what they can expect in the first round.

After getting bounced from the playoffs in the first round last season, the Lakers are hoping to make a deep run in Redick’s first season as their head coach.