The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a disappointing 111-108 loss to the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Monday, and their head coach, JJ Redick, was fuming after the game. Redick called out his players for their poor communication on offense, and Luka Doncic took responsibility for that in his postgame press conference.
“When JJ said about communication today, that wasn’t on point,” Doncic said. “And that’s my fault, and we should’ve done better.”
You’d want your superstars to hold themselves accountable like Doncic did here. The 26-year-old recognizes he just wasn’t good enough on the night.
The Nets blitzed Doncic for much of the game, and he was unable to make them pay for it. We have seen him rip teams apart with his passing when opponents have employed that strategy, but that didn’t happen on Monday. While he deserves some blame for that, so do his teammates, as the communication wasn’t up to the mark.
Doncic also repeatedly called for screens against the Nets when he was near half-court, and Redick wasn’t happy about that. The 40-year-old stated those plays normally end up being turnovers, and the Slovenian had five of them against the Nets.
As for the rest of Doncic’s stat line, he finished with 22 points (8-26 FG), 12 rebounds, 12 assists, and two steals. While you’d normally applaud a player for getting a triple-double, this wasn’t a great performance. The five-time All-Star was too inefficient from the field and didn’t take great care of the ball, either.
The Lakers will need Doncic to play a lot better if they are to avoid tumbling down the standings amid this injury crisis. They have now lost two in a row to drop to 40-23 this season and are third in the standings in the Western Conference.
Luka Doncic Was Frustrated With The Officiating In The Loss To The Nets
Lakers fans weren’t happy with the officiating in the loss to the Nets, and neither were the players. Doncic, for one, couldn’t hide his frustration with the referees after the game.
“Yeah, I mean in the end… It was a lot. I think it wasn’t fair. But you just gotta play the game. I gotta keep playing the game, but it was a lot man, I ain’t gonna lie.”
“I’m not gonna say anything. You know? I think everybody saw the game, so they know what happened.”
The Lakers got just two free throws in the first half, compared to 16 for the Nets. Their players were visibly unhappy with the officiating, and there was a lot of complaining going on.
While the officiating might not have been great, that wasn’t what cost the Lakers against the Nets. They just shot themselves in the foot with their sloppy play.
The Lakers committed 15 turnovers on the night and also allowed the Nets to haul in 16 offensive rebounds. They had one too many lapses on defense as well, and all of that contributed to Redick being furious after the game. He expected better from his players and was extremely disappointed by what he saw.
You’d expect a response from the Lakers in their next game, and they’ll be taking on the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum on Thursday at 7:30 PM ET.
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