Los Angeles Lakers faced off against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night, suffering a tough 126-106 loss. Despite a stellar NBA performance from Luka Doncic and a solid outing from Austin Reaves, the Lakers were unable to overcome the Bucks’ well-balanced team play. Head coach JJ Redick spoke after the game, addressing multiple aspects of the loss, including what went wrong, Doncic’s ability to handle defensive pressure, and Reaves’ contributions.
“Luka looked very comfortable, regardless of the coverages they threw at him,” Redick said postgame. “A couple of those turnovers when they blitzed him weren’t necessarily his fault. It goes back to some execution things… And honestly, I think he gets a tough whistle on some of those calls. That’s just a fact.”
As for Reaves, Redick praised his impact throughout the night. “AR, I think, was great all night. Sometimes, especially with LeBron out, he has that tendency to want to get going early. But he was fantastic offensively,” Redick said. “In the fourth quarter, it was a 21-point game. Luka was at the line, and AR told the guys, ‘We’ve been here before. We were in the same situation last year, and we won.’ I liked that mindset from him.”
Redick breaks down the Lakers’ struggles
Redick also addressed the challenge of defending Damian Lillard, who made things difficult for the Lakers, as well as the team’s turnover issues and overall execution.
Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts to basket with Austin Reaves #15 during the first half against the Minnesota Timberwolves
“I think our execution of the details, whether it was our strong vs. Lillard and then not strong-ing him and letting him get to his left hand, was poor,” Redick said. “I thought our greens in the post against Giannis were really bad. But in terms of our competitiveness and energy, I think it was there tonight.”
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He emphasized that failing to execute the game plan hurt the Lakers. “Again, Dame wants to go left, and we let him go left way too often. We didn’t execute at a high level. Frankly, when you’re missing guys, you have to play hard, but you also have to execute. Play hard and play smart… You have to do both. We played hard, but I don’t think we played smart.”
With injuries forcing the Lakers into unfamiliar rotations, Redick acknowledged the challenges. “We’re playing a lot of lineups that we haven’t used all year. That’s going to happen. Your hope is, with the schedule coming up, you get guys back. But in the meantime, you hope to correct some of these mistakes on film.”
Doncic’s free throw numbers
Doncic is averaging 7.2 free throw attempts per game this season, ranking sixth in the NBA in that category. Since joining the Lakers, that number has jumped to 8.2 attempts per game. While Redick didn’t explicitly address officiating, as a coach, he’ll want his star player to continue getting to the line and capitalizing on those opportunities.
