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JJ Redick and the Los Angeles Lakers could not have asked for a better start to the 2024-25 season. A 3-0 record with wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramento Kings, and Phoenix Suns has sent an early message to the rest of the league that the Lakers could once again be a force.
This is especially true with Anthony Davis finding a ton of success on both sides of the court. However, things did not go all that well for Los Angeles on Monday night when they played the Suns for the second time.
In Phoenix in their first road game of the season, the Lakers' offense was held to just 105 points, their fewest of the season, and the team struggled to get in a groove all night against Kevin Durant and Co. The second quarter is when things really went south for the Lakers, as they were outscored 25-14 by the Suns.
At one point in this quarter, Los Angeles couldn't get the ball moving towards the paint whatsoever on a possession, and James ended up with the ball late in the shot clock. A great defensive possession by Phoenix forced a shot-clock violation while LeBron had the basketball, which prompted an outraged response from Redick on the sidelines.
JJ Redick yelling at LeBron: “SHOOT THE F*CKING BALL” 😭 pic.twitter.com/T8oRd5m79d
— BricksCenter (@BricksCenter) October 29, 2024
“Hey Bron, you got to f*****g shoot the ball,” Redick appeared to yell at James from the sidelines after the 24-second violation, via BricksCenter on social media.
This was a miserable night for LeBron as a whole, as he finished the game with just 11 points on 3-of-14 shooting, his worst regular-season shooting performance over the last 17 years. Despite all the hardships Los Angeles faced on offense in this game against the Suns, they still only lost by four points after a late fourth-quarter rally.
Overall, this was a tough game for James, as he revealed in his postgame comments that he has been feeling under the weather as of late. This likely factored into his poor performance, one that almost saw his streak of at least 10 points in 1,226 games come to an end.
JJ Redick takes responsibility for Lakers' loss vs. Suns
Redick and the Lakers were obviously heated with the way things went on Monday. The Suns are a tough team, and Los Angeles knew that they were going to be getting their opponent's best in the second meeting of the season, especially after Phoenix lost by seven points during opening week.
Regardless of what was said during the game and Redick's heated outburst towards James for the second-quarter shot clock violation, the Lakers' coach owned up to Monday's loss and took accountability for what transpired.
“The other thing I would say is that we should never have a 14-point quarter,” Redick stated after the game. “So that’s on me as well. Part of that is me; I have got to make sure we’re running a good offense. But it was a little random. We got stalled out. Talked about it at halftime. For us to be a high-level offense, we’ve got to be able to move bodies, and we’ve got to move them.”
After getting off to a fast start and leading by as many as 18 points in the first quarter, the Lakers were unable to find any offensive success in the second quarter, leading to just 14 points over those 12 minutes. This is what Redick was referring to in his postgame comments, and this is also the time when he yelled at James for the 24-second violation.
Even with this loss, all is good in Los Angeles, as a 3-1 record to begin his tenure is still impressive for Redick. He will be looking to keep the momentum going and get the Lakers to 4-1 on the year when the team continues their road trip against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
