Lakers head coach JJ Redick explained postgame how defensive errors and the difficulties of beating the same team twice in a row led to a loss in Utah.
With the Lakers on the cusp of the All-Star break, they still had one more game left to play. So, they headed to Utah and got blown out against the Jazz, losing 131-119 on Wednesday night.
While a defeat to a team with only 13 wins is disappointing, the context does help one understand how it happened. This was the second game in a row where the Lakers were playing the Jazz, a break was awaiting them and there were key rotation players like Gabe Vincent and Dorian Finney-Smith out.
Jaxson Hayes also exited early due to a facial contusion he suffered mid-game.
Despite all the excuses available to the Lakers, head coach JJ Redick didn’t want to use them. Instead, during his postgame ability, he talked about how the team had just lost sight of everything it takes to win NBA games.
“Our guys, the spirit and all that stuff has been great,” Redick said. “I thought we were locked in. I think the more human nature element is playing the same team twice in a row and feeling like it might be easy because we just beat them and we’re 3-0 against them. I think our preparation was there, I think our guys’ preparation was there.
“Sometimes, you just momentarily can lose sight of the things required to earn a victory. I thought defensively, to start the game, Markkanen could just move wherever he wanted to move. We weren’t physical, we didn’t talk. Never really got to a place in the game where we were talking and executing the off-ball curl switch rules. You give a team confidence, you let them be comfortable and this is what happens. That’s the NBA.”
Redick certainly had an understandable approach to this defeat. While fans don’t want the context for losses, it does matter. Beating the same team in back-to-back games is hard, even when that team is in a tanking season.
Prior to this loss, the Lakers had been in top form. They won nine of their last ten and are currently fifth in the Western Conference. If a loss to the Jazz right before All-Star is the worst thing that’s happened to the Lakers recently, that’s something Lakers fans can probably live with.
Hopefully, rest will do the Lakers some good and this defeat can be a reminder that if you don’t take care of all phases of a game, you can lose to anyone, yes, even the Jazz.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.