The return to full health was supposed to kick the Los Angeles Lakers into gear heading into this final stretch of the regular season, but the opposite has been the case for head coach JJ Redick’s team. For the second straight game, the Lakers failed to execute and lacked energy as they fell to the Orlando Magic 118-106.
It was an extremely disappointing showing, especially considering the Lakers had one of their worst performances of the year on Saturday against the Chicago Bulls. Most concerning is the lack of energy, particularly on defense, and Redick admitted that his team looks tired, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“We had it for about 25 games and we can get back there. I think a couple guys, maybe from the schedule and being in and out of the lineup and a couple guys being injured, I don’t know, we just looked tired. And I don’t know what contributes to that. It happens periodically throughout a season where the group gets tired. That’s what it feels like right now. We weren’t able to sustain the level intensity we started the game with and I thought guys started out well.”
The Lakers started strong and were solid through most of the second half as well, but once again another awful third quarter doomed them and Redick feels they need to clean up some things:
“We had really good intention to start the game. We tried to clean some things up today but we still gotta clean some things up with some of our execution and coverages.”
This is the worst time for the Lakers to get into a funk as the playoffs near and Redick understands that the Lakers as a group need to find their rhythm once again:
“We’re going through it a little bit. We gotta get back into the flow and the rhythm. Those guys, I think it’s not just them getting back into their flow, but it’s the group and how the group functions.”
Exactly how they will do that is unclear, but Redick and his staff will need to do everything they can on their part, and the same must be done by the players to come together and get out of this rough stretch.
JJ Redick giving Lakers ‘grace’ to find rhythm
This was also something JJ Redick spoke about following the Lakers’ prior loss to the Bulls. Redick was unsure whether the Lakers getting everyone back caused a change in their mentality that everything was just going to click back into place, but noted that isn’t how things work, though he will give his team grace to find that rhythm again.
“That’s just not the way it works. I think the guys know that,” Redick said. “I’m not saying that’s what they assumed, and you’ll have to ask them that. The thing that we have talked about all season long though is grace. So, the group inherently gets some grace for what this last three weeks has looked like.
“It’s not an excuse, it’s just the nature of where a group felt very connected, then you lose some games on the road, you have some injuries and all that stuff. You gotta get reconnected. That’s where our group [is]. We’ll get there. We, however, don’t have a lot of time to do that. It’s gotta be now. It can’t be in a week or two weeks. It’s gotta be now.”
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
