The Los Angeles Lakers dominated the New Orleans Pelicans from start to finish on Sunday, but coach JJ Redick wasn’t satisfied with their win. Redick revealed the one thing he didn’t like from the Lakers’ easy victory over the short-handed Pelicans at Crypto.com Arena after the game.
In his postgame press conference, via Lakers Nation, Redick told the media about his takeaways from his team’s 133-121 win over the Pelicans. He wasn’t too thrilled with the way the Lakers played defense in the fourth quarter, but he also wants everyone to improve a little bit ahead of their next game on Monday against the Phoenix Suns.
“There’s a lot of things that I really like about our basketball team. It’s okay 19 games in to say, ‘Hey, we’re not where we want to be.’ That’s okay. That doesn’t take away from anything we’ve done or anything that any individuals have done so far this season. We have to just continue again tomorrow. Something’s going to happen. We got to get better from it. Our defense has to get better, and I thought we’ve had some good stretches. I didn’t like a lot of tonight on that end,” Redick said.
With their win against New Orleans, the Lakers improved to 15-4 for the season in Redick’s second year in charge. They have done the majority of it without LeBron James, who has been limited to just four games this season so far due to injury.
Lakers Are in Bottom Half in Defense
The Los Angeles Lakers have a Top 5 offensive team in the NBA, led by Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. They are the highest-scoring duo in the league, combining for an average of 63.9 points per game, as per Polymarket Hoops.
However, it’s a different story on the other end of the ball for the Lakers as a team. They are the 17th-best defense in the NBA, which is what JJ Redick has been talking about improving over the past few games. If they aren’t a very good offensive team, they probably won’t have a 15-4 record.
The Lakers have plenty of perimeter defenders in Marcus Smart and Jarred Vanderbilt. Doncic and Reaves have also been solid on that end of the floor for players who are not known for their defense. They will likely need to address their defensive deficiencies before February’s trade deadline.
Redick’s Biggest Threat is Boredom
In the same press conference after the Lakers’ win against the Pelicans, JJ Redick also spoke about how successful teams get “bored” with winning. It’s something that Redick wants to remove from his team’s perspective, especially in a tight Western Conference race.
“I hate saying this, but teams can get a little bored. And that’s what we’re trying to get away from. [Our focus] is just continuing to be a process team and didn’t think we were great with that tonight,” Redick said, via the Los Angeles Times.
At 15-4, the Lakers are second in the West, just behind the 20-1 Oklahoma City Thunder. They are only one game ahead of the Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets.
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