Friday night was the conclusion of an underwhelming road trip as Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick was left without six rotation players against the Denver Nuggets.
To be that undermanned against a team like Denver is a recipe for disaster given their duo of Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic. However, Redick had his team ready to play, which is impressive given how poorly this trip has gone and being on the second night of a back-to-back.
Specifically with no Jaxson Hayes or Trey Jemison, Alex Len and Christian Koloko were the lone centers for L.A.. Despite foul trouble, Koloko played well and that gave Redick more confidence to play him more moving forward, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Yeah, it does. I think Goody, Christian, Trey, we’ve gotten incredible value out of those guys and love having them in our program.”
Prior to this road trip, Koloko had not played more than 10 minutes since Jan. 28 against the Philadelphia 76ers. So, to be thrust into this role on short notice while guarding the best player in the world is a tall task.
In 20 minutes, the 24-year-old put up eight points and seven rebounds while playing physical defense against Jokic. Obviously, the three-time MVP was going to get calls and that made Koloko pick up fouls quicker than expected.
Defense aside, Koloko is a quality lob threat for Austin Reaves, LeBron James and Luka Doncic when they are all healthy. Although Jemison had a strong stint, Koloko could work his way to being the backup for Hayes with his athleticism and length.
JJ Redick proud of Lakers’ fight in loss to Nuggets
It could have been fairly easy for the Lakers to phone it in given how shorthanded they were. Unfortunately, their fight did not result in a win, but this opportunity allowed role players to showcase what they can bring.
Players like Dalton Knecht, Jordan Goodwin, Christian Koloko and Shake Milton made great use of their minutes. That made JJ Redick proud as a coach, granted they didn’t execute well late and came up short.
“I’m proud of the group for their level of fight and resiliency, particularly not getting off to a great start there in the second half,” Redick said. “Our transition defense was pretty bad from the first six minutes on. And then fighting back and taking a lead. There’s a lot we could’ve done better but the group competed tonight and gave ourselves a chance to win… Just very, very proud of their fight and the way they started the game and the resiliency they showed to get back in the game.”
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