The Los Angeles Lakers are in a rut and head coach JJ Redick is running out of time to right the ship.
The Lakers struggled to end their homestand and their inconsistent effort on both ends of the floor cost them another winnable game, this time against the Phoenix Suns. Los Angeles lost in brutal fashion to Phoenix, going on a fourth quarter run just to see Royce O’Neale drain an wide-open game-winning 3-pointer.
The Lakers have now lost three games in a row and are heading toward becoming a Play-In Tournament team. The roster may be flawed, but it’s certainly better than how they’ve looked this past week.
While Redick believes his team responded from their previous two losses, he admitted that losing a game like they did to Phoenix is louder compared to other teams because they’re in Los Angeles, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Yeah… I would say this, our losses are louder than other teams because we’re the Lakers and because of the way we lose. You get this deep into the season, and tonight was a one-possession clutch game and now we’ve lost a few of those. But we’ve been great, for the most part, in the clutch all year. Our losses are louder. I would say, so we had some adversity tonight. Did we not respond? You’re not gonna avoid adversity… I thought our guys were great with that tonight. Basketball is a game of mistakes and we made mistakes. I make mistakes. I don’t think Jordan Ott coached a perfect game, I don’t think their players (were perfect). Grayson Allen kicked our butt and he was 9-for-24. That’s the game. So I think our guys responded tonight.”
There’s no question that the Lakers are one of the most discussed teams in the NBA no matter what their record is. The purple and gold’s popularity will always make them a topic of conversation, so it’s easy to look at a loss like the one to the Suns and make a bigger deal out of it.
However, Redick and the coaching staff need to figure out a way to get the players to to remain engaged for all 48 minutes to avoid more tough losses. Hopefully they can bounce back on Saturday against the Golden State Warriors.
JJ Redick calls Lakers a work in progress
With the 2025-26 season quickly winding down, teams like Los Angeles need to kick it into high gear before the playoffs arrive. However, following the rough end to the homestand JJ Redick acknowledged that his team is still a work in progress.
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