The Denver Nuggets blew out the Los Angeles Lakers 127-102 at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday and head coach JJ Redick called out his team after the game. When Redick was asked what went wrong for the Lakers in the third quarter, which the Nuggets won 37-15, he called out his players.
“Schematically, certainly we’ll have to review some stuff,” Redick said. “Clearly, the spirit to compete just wasn’t there.”
When asked how that could be solved, Redick wasn’t interested in sharing any details.
“We’ll solve it like we solve other problems,” Redick stated. “But obviously, we’ll do it internally.”
With this result, the Lakers have dropped to 10-6 on the season and they’ve now lost 13 of their last 14 games against the Nuggets. Redick was asked if he felt that Denver’s past success in this matchup made it difficult for his team to respond in the third and he didn’t feel that was the case.
“I have a pretty clear idea of what happened in the third,” Redick said. “But whatever it was, it was not because we were haunted by the ghosts of the past or something like that. It was kind of obvious to me what happened there. Just not the right spirit.”
That is quite an indictment on the players. You can’t really deny it, though, I suppose that they just didn’t compete hard enough in that third quarter.
The Lakers led 63-57 at halftime but allowed the Nuggets to go on a 7-0 run to start the third quarter, which proved to be the beginning of the end. The Nuggets managed to go up double digits midway through the quarter and led 94-78 at the end of it. They went 15-22 from the field in the period while the Lakers were just 5-20.
It’s ridiculous how often we have seen games between these teams play out in this manner. The Lakers go up early in the first half only for the Nuggets to seize control in the second and come away with the win. Many blamed former Lakers head coach Darvin Ham for their failures but the same pattern repeated under Redick.
At this point, it’s safe to say the Nuggets have the Lakers’ number and it’s hard to see that changing unless some moves are made. Will any be made, though? It’s hard to say. The Lakers’ front office has been quite hesitant to part with those first-round picks in trades as they’re keeping one eye on the future. If they want to win the big prize now, though, they’ll have to give up one or two of those picks.
This loss to the Nuggets also meant that the Lakers have now lost two in a row after going on a six-game winning run. Both losses have come at home too, which is worrying. They’ll be on the road next, though, as they take on the Phoenix Suns in an NBA Cup game at Footprint Center on Tuesday at 10 PM ET.
It will be the third meeting between the Lakers and the Suns this season, with the teams splitting the first two. The last time they met in Phoenix, the Suns overturned an 18-point deficit to beat the Lakers 109-105 and Redick would be keen to avoid a repeat.
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