The Lakers have been eliminated from the NBA Cup tonight following their 119-132 loss against the Spurs at the Crypto.com Arena. Following the game, their head coach, JJ Redick, addressed the media and gave a harsh reality check about the Lakers.
Upon being asked about how his team managed to claw back into the game on several occasions and still fall short, Redick highlighted their key weakness: containing the ball.
“There are a lot of things that stood out, but I think being able to contain the basketball is probably one of the most difficult things for our team right now,” said Redick emphatically.
Redick was further questioned about whether there is one thing that the Lakers can do to bounce back, or if it will be a culmination of effort over several small aspects to work on.
“The things that help you win on the margins, we’re just not very good at right now. We’ve got to ask a little bit more from everybody. We don’t crash, we can’t force a lot of turnover, we did a terrible job at the end of the first quarter, and the second quarter… If a team shoots well, we’re really in trouble,” Redick added coldly.
While the reporter questioned him about feeling targeted by the media, Redick said that there are constantly recurring issues that warrant the criticism that the Lakers face.
“Very few teams don’t have something that you can expose, and we consistently got exposed about the same thing,” concluded a disappointed Redick.
The former NBA player sounded very unhappy with the team’s lack of effort at the beginning of the game. A late outburst from the Lakers fell short as they were behind by 17 points at the end of the third quarter and cut the deficit to eight points with less than five minutes left on the clock.
Despite being without their star player, Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs showed a lot more effort in this game. De’Aaron Fox came up clutch and ended the Lakers’ momentum with a crucial three-point shot to decide the game down the stretch.
But it was Stephon Castle who led all scorers for the Spurs (among seven scorers in double-digits) with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists while shooting 71.4% from the field (10-of-14).
Meanwhile, Luka Doncic led all scorers for the Lakers with 35 points, eight assists, and five rebounds, shooting 45.8% from the field (11-of-24). Despite a 26-point masterclass from Marcus Smart, who was coming off the bench, the purple and gold fell short down the stretch and missed a chance to fight for two out of the first three editions of the NBA Cup.
After this defeat, their record has fallen to 17-7 for the season due to three losses over the last five games. The Lakers would’ve faced the Thunder on Saturday (December 13) in the semi-finals had they won this game, but they are now set to face the Suns on Sunday (December 14).
