JJ Redick Happy With Lakers’ Defensive Progress

The Los Angeles Lakers did not have a stellar offensive performance in their victory over the Sacramento Kings as their 116 points scored were their second-fewest of the season. But they were still able to come away with a 13-point victory on the road due in large part to their efforts on the defensive end.

The Lakers held the Kings to just 39% shooting from the field while also getting 23 points off 17 Sacramento turnovers. And while things weren’t always perfect, head coach JJ Redick is happy with the effort his team is giving on that side of the court.

“Any time you can get a stop, it’s great,” Redick said on Spectrum SportsNet after the win. “Ideally, you can get a stop without the other team shooting the ball. I think when the game started, we were a little flat. I called an early timeout when they had 16 points, they scored 87 for the last 43 minutes and 27 seconds or whatever it was after I called that timeout. So the defense was good. Still, execution-wise, game plan-wise, Stan Van Gundy always used to say if 10 guys play and each guy has a ‘my bad, I messed that one up. My bad.’ That’s 10 mistakes. That could be 20 points, that could be 30 points.

“I think as we grow and we become hopefully a great basketball team, we’re gonna limit those game plan errors, those my bads. The promising thing on that side of the ball is the effort and the intent to execute I think is really high. Second efforts were really good. We had a number of veer switches and peel switches and scrambles, had a number of late shot clock possessions and shot clock violations. We did a lot on that end and I think the activity overall was really good, save for the first four minutes or whatever it was.”

As Redick noted, the most important thing for the Lakers is that this team is committed on that end of the court. The execution may not always be there, but the mindset and desire to be great is and with that time that should lead to the Lakers improving defensively as the season goes on.

The offense is going to carry this team, especially with Luka Doncic playing at the level he is right now, but steady improvement defensively can turn the Lakers from a good team, to a contending one.

Luka Doncic makes history with performance vs. Kings

Doncic once again had an outstanding offensive performance with 40 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in the win against the Kings, making NBA history in the process. He is the first player in NBA history to record six consecutive games with at least 35 points, five rebounds, five assists and five 3-pointers.