Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick had a rare opportunity for a break to help reset the team and prepare them for a challenging stretch of games.
The Lakers had several days off because of the Emirates NBA Cup, but Redick chose to use the time for his players to recover, as many were dealing with injuries. While the rest likely helped with recovery, it didn’t have much effect on the team’s offense, as they lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.
Neither team played well, and part of that could be attributed to the long break, but the Lakers had their best defensive performance of the 2024-25 season. However, they struggled with the ball, committing 21 turnovers compared to Minnesota’s 13.
After the game, Redick acknowledged that the turnovers cost the Lakers the win, speaking to Spectrum SportsNet:
“They came in a number of ways,” Redick said. “Some passes that we tried to fit through tight windows. You never want to inbound the ball to the other team after a made field goal and give up a dunk. Some of it was not holding our positioning and timing our sort of physicality to get open on ‘Horns.’ I think we had three turnovers just on ‘Horns’ alone. Yeah, it killed us.”
While it would be easy to blame rust for the mistakes, Redick emphasized that the problems were more about execution and a lack of focus. One of the worst turnovers came when Rui Hachimura carelessly inbounded the ball to Anthony Davis, who wasn’t paying attention. The Timberwolves stole it and dunked, showing just how bad things were for the Lakers.
Another issue was LeBron James’ absence, which forced Redick to rely on other players to handle the ball and run the offense. But no matter who’s on the court, the Lakers can’t afford to give up the ball so easily, especially against a good team like the Timberwolves.
The Lakers will get a chance to recover on Sunday when they face the Memphis Grizzlies, who have already shown they are especially motivated when playing against the Lakers.
JJ Redick unsure when LeBron James will rejoin Lakers
LeBron James missed the Lakers’ recent game against the Portland Trail Blazers to rest his foot, and now he is away from the team for personal reasons. When asked about James’ return, Redick admitted he wasn’t sure.
