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JJ Redick Admits He Was 'Pretty Much' Pulling All-Nighters to Prepare for Lakers-Nuggets

A long nap is surely in order.

Brigid Kennedy

Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick speaks to media on Jan 25, 2025.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick speaks to media on Jan 25, 2025. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
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Now that the Los Angeles Lakers have played and defeated the Denver Nuggets, L.A. head coach JJ Redick can hopefully get some rest.

After the Lakers decisively snapped the Nuggets nine-game winning streak on Saturday night with a 123–100 victory, Redick admitted he "pretty much [hasn't] slept since we walked off the court in Portland" following a game vs. the Trail Blazers on Thursday. For those keeping track at home, that's about a 48-hour preparatory all-nighter. Sheesh.

That said, though, it clearly paid off.

"Spent a lot of time on this game, our staff spent a lot of time on this game. I envisioned our guys playing hard, they played harder than I could have envisioned. They battled tonight," Redick continued. "Those are the two things that stood out."

The Lakers looked excellent on Saturday, fueled in large part by a dominant performance from point guard Luka Donic, who said he was "finally feeling like myself." The 25-year-old had his best game yet as a Laker, dropping 32 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists. Behind him was another excellent run from forward LeBron James, who posted 25 points, nine rebounds, and five assists.

L.A. and Denver will meet yet again on March 14, part of a six-game-in-eight-days stretch that even James seems concerned about. It will be a big time for playoff positioning so not the time for L.A. to take its foot off the gas—but maybe, with a win under its belt, Redick can get a bit more shut-eye ahead of that game than he did this one.

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Brigid Kennedy
BRIGID KENNEDY

Brigid Kennedy is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, she covered political news, sporting news and culture at TheWeek.com before moving to Livingetc, an interior design magazine. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, dual majoring in television, radio and film (from the Newhouse School of Public Communications) and marketing managment (from the Whitman School of Management). Offline, she enjoys going to the movies, reading and watching the Steelers.

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