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24 Seconds with...J.J. Redick | 05/05/15

Rowan Kavner

HOUSTON – Opposing defenses know how valuable J.J. Redick is to the Clippers’ offense.

In Round 1, the Spurs stuck the Defensive Player of the Year on him much of the time, having Kawhi Leonard follow him as he weaved his way around the court. On Monday night, that job belonged mostly to Jason Terry.

But after holding Redick scoreless in the first half, the Clippers’ shooting guard figured out how the Rockets’ defense was playing him and how best to attack it, scoring 17 points in the second half to help the Clippers win in Houston.

Redick talked Tuesday about the lessons learned from the first round, the Game 1 victory in Houston, the team’s confidence and what Blake Griffin’s been able to accomplish.

What are the biggest lessons you learned from the Spurs series?

JJ: “That you’re never out of it. The thing we did during the Spurs series is we learned to weather runs and runs on the road, which is difficult to do. Last night, we got down 13, and there wasn’t a sense of panic with our team in the first half. We just kind of kept plugging away and plugging away. During timeouts, we’d say. ‘Let’s get this down to 7. Let’s get this down to 5.’ And we all looked up at halftime and were like, ‘Oh man, we’re only down 4."

“I think that’s something we learned in that Spurs series. No matter what the other team is doing, the runs and all that other stuff, we just have to continue to trust in what we do and eventually, we’ll be in the game."

Is it tough to keep the same edge in Game 2 after winning the first one?

JJ: “We have so much longer to go to where we want to be, it’s not very hard to keep an edge. I said it last night and I’ll say it again, it’s one win and we need three more. They’re all tough. They were tough last series. And, the further you go, the tougher they get.”

Was there a turning point in the way you guys started to trust each other and the offense?

JJ: “I don’t know if there was a specific thing or if it just developed over time, but we’re in a really good place right now with our trust and with our communication and with our resolve and mental toughness. That’s something that’s just developed over the last two years since I’ve been here, and three years since this group’s been together.”

You mentioned Austin Rivers always being confident. What can that Game 1 do for him winning while playing in place of Chris paul?

JJ: “I talked to him at shootaround yesterday about our 2009 run (with Orlando) when Courtney Lee broke his face. I was kind of in and out of the rotation, but I got to start eight playoff games. I always tell people that was the turning point in my career, playing in those seven games against Boston or a closeout game in our previous series at Philadelphia. That was the springboard for my career going into my fourth year, and my fourth year on, I’ve been a different player. I think last night can potentially springboard Austin to even bigger and better things."

You’ve seen Blake Griffin play for a while now, but is this a different level for him?

JJ: “In terms of his playmaking, it’s pretty spectacular. When we had that stretch last year where I was hurt and Chris was hurt, Blake was putting up 29 points a game or something like that, that was a stretch where he did it for a longer stretch. He’s proven that he can kind of carry us."

“Blake and I have this thing before the game where we dap each other up and he says, ‘Best shooter in the world,’ to me, and I say, ‘Best player in the world,’ to him. And, you know, he has the ability to be that best player in the world. What he’s doing right now is historically unprecedented, and I expect him to continue to play at this level.”