Luka Magic has taken over Los Angeles. And winning the championship does not seem like a far-fetched dream anymore. We got another glimpse of his dominance last night as the Slovenian star put up 21 first-quarter points to shatter the Nuggets’ hopes. The early advantage turned the rest of the game into a cakewalk for the Lakers as they blew out the visitors by twelve points. After the impressive win, JJ Redick revealed that the team’s internal discussion might have sparked Luka’s early scoring outburst.

Obviously, for Luka to go off on offense, his teammates need to trust him and defer to him. When JJ was asked if there is a recognition from Lakers players to keep Luka’s scoring streak going whenever he has a hot hand, the head coach replied, “Yeah, we’ve talked about it as a staff you know with the group. You know just having the recognition when he’s on the floor generally. Unless it’s you know transition, an early mismatch when we are healthy – Let’s say Rui or LeBron run the floor like he should touch the basketball in the half court.”

With LeBron and Hachimura sidelined due to injury, Doncic is unsurprisingly the primary facilitator on the squad and the offense runs through him. So, once his teammates recognize that his shots are falling, they pass the ball to Luka and get out of the way. Even last night, Luka scored in multiple ways, finishing with 4 three-pointers and several tough layups. Not only that, he also made his teammates better by dishing out seven assists.

Even Redick was in awe of his first-quarter performance, as he said post-game, “I don’t know what it was exactly in Dallas, but I know he had a number of big first quarters for them… This is kinda what he does and has done throughout his career. We want him to be aggressive no matter what, but he’s gonna play the right way.” With Luka balling out and LeBron likely to return soon, the Lakers’ chances of finishing as the top-four seed and bagging home-court advantage in the playoffs are looking strong. However, JJ does not want to get too ahead of himself, fearing major consequences.

JJ Redick claims home-court advantage would be “nice” but Lakers need to remain cautious

Following last night’s win, the Lakers moved up to the third seed, putting them in a perfect position to win home-court advantage. Redick even addressed how helpful that would be in the postseason: “Yeah, we would all love to have home-court advantage. It would be nice. Our group has been awesome at home, so far they have.” The LA team has a 28-7 record at home this season. Meanwhile, they are 15-18 on the road. Obviously, playing in Crypto.com arena would be the ideal scenario for them.

However, Redick is not particularly chasing that goal, as he sent a stern warning to the locker room, “Again, you gotta play the next game and gotta win the game in front of you. I’ve just seen it too many times, the Basketball Gods you know start messing around with things. The Basketball Gods, they will punish you.” Yes, JJ wants to take it one step at a time and does not want to jinx the Lakers’ chances. Of course, the standings can change drastically with each game as the second through eighth seed in the West are separated by only five wins.

So, Redick wants the Lakers to focus on the task at hand and make sure that they win the next game instead of thinking too far ahead. Great mindset indeed! Do you agree?