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The Los Angeles Lakers have been one of the most inconsistent teams in the NBA this season. Their first season with JJ Redick as head coach has been a roller coaster, but they hit rock bottom this week. After a lifeless performance in a 109-80 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Lakers followed that up with an even worse showing on Wednesday night.
The Miami Heat blasted the Lakers 134-93 in Miami in a dreadful effort from the Lakers. This loss drops Redick's group to 12-10 on the season and is their third loss in their last four games. Overall, the Lakers are just 2-6 in their last eight games, so this is a team that has been slumping lately.
After the game, Redick shared his understandable frustration with the Lakers' performance, via Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet.
“I’m embarrassed. We’re all embarrassed,” Redick said, per Trudell. “It’s not a game I thought we had the right fight, the right professionalism … I own this, but need some ownership on the court as well. There’s not a sense from me that we’re together right now.”
Redick went on to reveal his plan to try and get the team back together so they can start paying some of the good basketball that they showed earlier in the season, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
“Redick said he’s going to meet with his coaching staff, his players (as a group) and then certain players individually to try to prevent the group from splintering further,” Buha reported on X, formerly Twitter after the game.
Lakers star LeBron James took accountability for the effort and admitted that the players need to do better. He also agreed with everything that Redick had to say after the game, per Trudell.
Lakers' effort has been poor in two-game losing streak
The Lakers have had low points this season, but none of them have been quite as bleak as the last two games. The Lakers lost twice in the last 72 hours by a combined 70 points, which should never happen to a quality team like this one.
The Lakers have been shaky on defense all season long. They don't have the personnel to consistently contain explosive ball handlers on the perimeter, and as a result Anthony Davis is asked to be the eraser for the team on that end of the floor. The Lakers' defense has also struggled because of injuries to Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt that have thinned out the rotation.
However, in these two games, there have been far too many possessions that look like this one.
The Lakers haven't played with cohesion and intensity on that end of the floor, as Redick alluded to after the game. That has bled into their offensive production, which has also been extremely lackluster over the last few games. If the Lakers don't get things turned around quickly, they will be in trouble in a crowded Western Conference.
