Redick: Lakers took shortcuts in 1st game without LeBron
Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick doesn't believe his team should use injuries as an excuse for its 111-108 loss to the lowly Brooklyn Nets.
"I think it was a very low-level communication game for our team," Redick said postgame, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "I don't think being short-handed is an excuse for how we played basketball tonight."
L.A. was without LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes, and Dorian Finney-Smith. James missed his first game since suffering a groin injury against the Boston Celtics on Saturday. He's set to be out for 1-2 weeks.
The Lakers held the Nets to 16 points in the first quarter but were outscored by Brooklyn in the next three. They lost the turnover battle 15-7.
"I think it was just an overall mentality just to take shortcuts tonight," Redick said. "Want to be a good team? You want to win in the NBA? You got to do the hard stuff. We couldn't even pass to each other. We couldn't enter our offense, running ball screens literally at half court. Yeah, that's going to end up in a turnover. I don't know what we're doing."
Both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves took responsibility for their play.
"When JJ said (that) about communication today, that was important," Doncic said. "That's my fault, and we should have done better at that."
"I just thought I played incredibly bad," Reaves said. "That's, really, you know, about as much as I can say about that. It's frustrating not helping your team win. When Bron's out, I got to be better, and I wasn't. That's one of the reasons we lost."
Doncic recorded 22 points but shot 8-of-26 from the field and committed five turnovers. Reaves added 17 points on 3-of-14 shooting. Gabe Vincent led the team in scoring with 24.
The Lakers fell to 40-23, ranking third in the Western Conference. They face the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday.