The Los Angeles Lakers are going through a rough patch.
They suffered their second consecutive loss, this time falling to the Brooklyn Nets—a team that had been stuck in a seven-game losing streak.
Like many teams nearing the end of the season, injuries are piling up and affecting their performance.
LeBron Sidelined, Lakers Falter
LeBron James went down with an injury in the Lakers’ weekend matchup against Boston.
He is expected to miss at least a week, possibly two. Without their star, LA suffered a disappointing loss to a Brooklyn squad that had been stuck in a seven-game losing streak.
Despite jumping out to an early 12-point lead, LA couldn’t sustain their momentum. Brooklyn surged back behind Noah Clowney’s 19 points off the bench, and LA couldn’t find a response.
Redick Frustrated With Lakers’ Performance
The Lakers were missing other key players like Jaxson Hayes, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Rui Hachimura.
But Redick refused to let injuries justify the team’s lackluster play.
“I think our mentality was to take shortcuts tonight,” Redick said after the game. “They scored 20 points on us from gambling. We gave up 16 offensive rebounds because we ball-watched all night. They probably made six or seven uncontested threes. Just shortcuts.”
Turnovers were another glaring issue. The Lakers committed twice as many as the Nets, disrupting their offense and gifting Brooklyn extra scoring opportunities.
“We couldn’t even pass to each other. We couldn’t get into our offense,” Redick continued. “We were running ball screens at half court—of course, that’s going to end up in a turnover. I don’t know what we were doing.”
Luka’s Triple-Double Not Enough
Despite the struggles, Luka Dončić delivered an impressive triple-double—his second since joining the Lakers. But his effort wasn’t enough to overcome LA’s careless mistakes and lack of defensive discipline.
But careless mistakes and second-chance points proved costly, as LA dropped its second straight game and slipped to third place in the Western Conference.
Redick wrapped up his press conference with a simple but harsh reality check:
“If you want to be a good team and win in this league, you have to do the hard stuff.”
