The Los Angeles Lakers led by as many as 15 in the first half against a Brooklyn Nets team that appeared to be tanking toward the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes. What followed was a colossal collapse by the purple and gold, as the Nets rallied throughout the second quarter and entire second half to complete their third largest comeback of the season, 111-108. Head coach JJ Redick was quick to eviscerate his team’s effort—or lack thereof—in his postgame remarks.
JJ Redick Rips Lakers “Shortcuts” Following Loss to Nets
Redick Calls Out Lakers
Redick was particularly frustrated with the Lakers’ execution and lack of communication on offense, bluntly adding: “I don’t think being shorthanded is an excuse for how we played basketball tonight,” referring to the team missing four rotation players, including LeBron James.
“I think it was just an overall mentality—just to take shortcuts tonight. We just wanted to take shortcuts. They scored 20 points on us gambling. They had 16 offensive rebounds—we ball-watched all night. We said no dare shots. I’ll go through [the film], they probably made six, seven uncontested threes. Just shortcuts. You want to be a good team? You want to win in the NBA? You gotta do the hard stuff. We couldn’t even pass to each other. We couldn’t enter our offense. Running ball-screens literally at half court—yeah, that’s gonna end up in a turnover. I don’t know what we were doing.”
He added that the team will use upcoming practices to “clean things up” and ensure everyone is “on the same page.”
Luka Doncic, who finished Monday night with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists, acknowledged Redick’s criticisms of the offense and said, “That’s my fault.”
“We started the game good defending, … but then we just kind of let go of the rope,” Doncic added. “We got comfortable, and we should not [have] done that.”
Doncic also believes the two-day break ahead of Thursday’s matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks will give the team ample time to rest and “correct the mistakes” from Monday.
Not All Hope Lost
Despite the Lakers’ disappointing play, there were some bright spots at Barclays Center. For one, Luka did not lead the Lakers in scoring against the Nets. That honor belonged to Gabe Vincent, who logged a season-high 24 points on 8/12 shooting from the field and 6/9 from three. Two-way guard Jordan Goodwin also logged a season-high 17 points on 6/8 shooting, including five three-pointers. Rookie Dalton Knecht rounded out a slew of solid performances, finishing with 18 points while making eight of his 18 shot attempts.
Doncic said Monday’s loss was “definitely” a missed opportunity considering the contributions of those three.
“I think I should’ve helped more,” he told reporters. “They all played great, and we’ve got to have the same mentality going forward. Injuries [are] gonna happen, and [it’s just gonna be ‘next man up’ mentality.”
Lakers Must Play Perfect While Shorthanded
The loss only showed how the Lakers cannot take plays off against any team—whether their opponents are competing for a championship or the no. 1 pick in the draft. Aside from Brooklyn’s 16 offensive rebounds, they also scored 19 points off of 15 Laker turnovers—a cardinal sin, especially in a game that ended up coming down to the wire. Doncic and the Lakers must use Redick’s disparagement as fuel with their playoff push not getting any easier.
The purple and gold face a Bucks team that is currently fourth in the East and has gone 7-3 in their last ten games. The Bucks will likely come into the game with high motivation after back-to-back losses to the Magic and Cavaliers.
Per usual, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard will look to give the depleted Lakers major problems, and Milwaukee’s role players will aim to go to work against LA’s struggling supporting cast. It’s imperative that the purple and gold get back to executing at a high level on both ends of the floor. Even though the Bucks have recently struggled on offense, they’re still ranked fourth in effective field goal percentage (56.3%), and their shots will continue to fall with a bevy of bucket-getters at their disposal. Considering they’re looking to get back on track, surely Milwaukee would want nothing more than to bring their A-game against a thin Lakers roster—one that’s clinging to a top-three seed in the West for dear life.
The Last Word
The Lakers and Bucks will meet for the first time this season on March 13 at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT. After that, LA will take on the Denver Nuggets—who just leapfrogged them for the second spot in the West—on March 14 at 9:30 p.m. ET.
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