JJ Redick spoke after the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 126-106 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. The head coach addressed a host of topics during his press conference, starting out with what exactly went wrong while playing against the Milwaukee Bucks, followed by the performances of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
Reporter: “You could argue some of the things that you were talking about got better – getting better shots for guys, handling doubles on Luka. But was any of that lost with Milwaukee being able to hit their threes the way that they did and trying to take away the rim?”
JJ Redick: “It was a different loss than the other night in Brooklyn. I thought our competitive level was really high. I think it was a tough match-up if we’re not at full strength.”
“That’s just reality. 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. I thought our greens were really bad in the post with Giannis. In terms of the guys connecting the spirit with competitiveness, it was there tonight.”
Reporter: “You talked before the game about Luka and Austin; both of them got going. What did you see from them offensively tonight?”
Redick: “Luka looked very comfortable, regardless of the coverages they gave him. A couple of those turnovers when they blitzed him weren’t necessarily his fault. It goes back to some execution things… For some of the turnovers, I think he gets a tough whistle. That’s a fact.”
“AR, I think, was great all night. Sometimes with him, the tendency to want to get going early, particularly with LeBron out, is there… He was fantastic offensively.”
Reporter: “You said something along the lines of – while we’re not full, we have to defend and play incredibly hard. I know you said the competition level was better in your group tonight. But did you see the realization of how tough of a match-up it was? Did it de-spirit your guys in any way?”
Redick: “AR in the fourth quarter, it was a 21-point game. Luka was at the line, and he was like, ‘We’ve been here before. We were here in the same situation last year, and we won.’ I think the guys were good with that.”
“Again, Dame wants to go left, we let him get left a lot. 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… Gotta do both. We played hard. I don’t think we played smart.”
“Playing a lot of lineups we haven’t played all year, practicing together, it’s going to happen. Your hope is, with the schedule coming up, you get guys back, but you hope you can correct some of that in film.”
Reporter: “You mentioned that not all of Luka’s turnovers were his fault. You also mentioned him getting a tough whistle. I think this is his sixth or seventh game in a row having at least five turnovers.”
“A couple of games ago, you mentioned the range that you would prefer him and LeBron stay within. Are you seeing any commonalities between how those turnovers are coming for him specifically?”
Redick: “I don’t know the exact [number of turnovers] but know that we’ve been pretty good against the shock or the blitz relative to some of the other coverages, so I think we’ve gotten good looks out of that.”
“Some of the turnovers are out of that, but that’s natural if you’re going to get double-teamed sometimes… I’d love to have a bunch of offensive breakdown segments and practice to get that in. It’s right there. We see it on tape. We watch it at half-time. I know Luka is a willing passer, so we’ll be able to do that eventually.”
Reporter: “Is everyone who was available tonight expected to be available tomorrow against Denver?”
Redick: “The expectation is [yes]. But again, I don’t know how these guys are doing after this game. Frankly, I have no idea how they’re going to wake up in the morning.”
JJ: "We didn't execute at a high level. When you're missing guys, you have to play hard, but you also have to execute." pic.twitter.com/Vw57oDxT8q
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 14, 2025
Redick’s frustration, given everything that the Lakers have endured over the last week, is completely understandable. Things only get tougher for the Lakers over the next few days, as they still have to play five games in the next seven days. Luka Doncic spoke recently about their tough schedule, noting that he has seen nothing like this in his entire playing career.
Doncic is averaging 7.2 free-throw attempts per game this season, which ranks sixth in the NBA. So, he clearly gets to the line quite frequently. In fact, since joining the Lakers, his free-throw attempts per game have gone up to 8.2 points per game. It’s hard to see where JJ Redick is coming from when it comes to this, but as a coach, he will want his player to get all the calls.
Even Austin Reaves is wary of the situation at hand, claiming that teams are going to look to take advantage of the Lakers’ misfortunes right now. Given the tough road they have ahead, it’s hard to see the Lakers improving greatly on their 40-24 record over the next few weeks.
The Lakers could get LeBron James and Rui Hachimura back very soon, as both players are currently listed as day-to-day. But it might be too little, too late, as they have a lot of ground to cover in the next weeks.
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