Before the first game of the Lakers’ postseason, head coach JJ Redick clenched as he spoke, a very serious person acting even more seriously than usual.
The moment in front of him and their team was big, a series opener inside their building for the first time since 2012, optimism that extended beyond a single win all the way to 16, belief that their first playoff run with Luka Doncic could be something special.
And that’s what it looked like early Saturday, the crowd rocking as Doncic showed the ways he could carry a team in the postseason, the stepbacks and the mismatches and the finishes in traffic.