The Los Angeles Lakers have been really up against it the past few weeks as the fatigue of the schedule seems to have really settled in.
The Lakers have been playing almost non-stop since the All-Star break and going up against the Chicago Bulls on the second night of a back-to-back certainly didn’t help things. Los Angeles got blown out last weekend by Chicago and they had a chance at revenge when they faced off.
The second half largely belonged to the Lakers as they were able to stay in front thanks to a defensive effort that hadn’t been present. However, the end of the game was as wild of a sequence of events as there could be as Chicago and Los Angeles traded clutch baskets before Josh Giddey’s half-court heave at the buzzer went in.
The Lakers went on to lose 119-117 and head coach JJ Redick didn’t mince words about how it felt, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Devastation. It’s a hell of a way to lose a basketball game.”
Los Angeles had one timeout remaining before LeBron James threw the basketball away, but Redick explained he didn’t want to use it in that situation:
“No. Not necessarily. You don’t wanna put yourself in that spot. If I had two, I would’ve taken it automatically. I felt super comfortable with the lineup we had out there to get the ball in. We just didn’t execute it. Still had I think time to call a timeout but I think in that situation, the thought process was get it in if we can. If not, call timeout.”
The Bulls climbed back into the game thanks to their outside shooting and Redick had no choice but to give them credit:
“I mean, they shot 11-of-14 from 3. If that’s 11-of-14 in an empty gym, it’s really good. That’s unreal shooting.”
But Redick stayed even-keeled when asked how it feels to be on the wrong end of a buzzer-beater:
“It’s the third one. Because the Atlanta game too, we had that game one. There’s games throughout the year that happen I think to every team. I mean, you could look back ‘Oh, we should’ve done this, should’ve done that.’ We got one last night in Indy. We lost on a half-court shot. I thought overall outside of a couple plays, the execution and shots we were getting was good.”
This loss will go down as one of the worst regular season defeats in franchise history as the team legitimately threw the game away. At a critical juncture of the season, the purple and gold simply can’t afford these kinds of losses.
JJ Redick says Lakers have no time to feel sorry for themselves
The Los Angeles Lakers escaped Indiana with a win over the Pacers, but the Chicago Bulls ensured they wouldn’t get lucky twice. However, JJ Redick said the Lakers don’t have time to wallow after a devastating loss.
“We’re not in a position to feel sorry for ourselves.”
Redick is absolutely correct and it’ll be up to them to bounce back on Saturday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
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