Marcus Smart Reacts to JJ Redick's Lakers Criticism After Thunder Loss
The series between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder started just as many expected. Mark Daigneault's team secured a comfortable win, which drew criticism from opposing coach JJ Redick. Marcus Smart shared his reaction to the Lakers coach's message.
Redick's team has failed to secure a win against the Thunder this season. They lost all four regular-season matchups, and the Game 1 loss marked their fifth straight defeat. Evidently, the Lakers coach wasn't too happy about it.
"We sucked against this team", said Redick before the game while recalling his team's four losses. Following another defeat, the Lakers coach's criticism remained firm as he pointed out Austin Reaves' struggles. Smart was asked about Redick's harsh pre-game remark in the post-game press conference.
However, for the Lakers guard, the message wasn't aggressive at all. In fact, Smart believes his coach was being polite. "JJ's been nice. We were ass", he said. The Lakers star understands the demands of his coach. Most players, including Smart himself, struggled to score against the Thunder.
He shot 4-of-15 from the field, while Reaves also had a miserable night. Reaves went 3-of-16 from the floor, resulting in an 18.8 FG%, the lowest by any Laker in a playoff game over the last 35 years, as per ESPN Insights. Nonetheless, LeBron James remained the top scorer as usual with 27 points.
The Lakers are also missing their season's top scorer Luka Doncic, who is their only player ruled out. The 27-year-old is expected to be out for Game 2 as well. Until then, the burden on LeBron will remain heavy. Doncic scored 30 and 23 points in his first two encounters against the Thunder.
However, he struggled in the other two meetings, scoring 19 and 12 points. As the Lakers await Doncic's return, they will hope he finds his rhythm after his hamstring injury. Meanwhile, for the Thunder, scoring was not an issue in their 109-90 win.
The team shot 49% from the field compared to the Lakers' 41%. MVP finalist Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, along with Ajay Mitchell, scored 18 points each. The Thunder continue to look dominant, while the Lakers' flaws remain evident. Redick now has one day to figure things out before Game 2 on May 7 at 9:30 PM EST.
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This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 9:22 AM.