Five takeaways from JJ Redick's head-coaching debut

Building solidarity with staff
Redick and his entire coaching staff sported Nike Dunks sneakers on Tuesday. The gesture spoke volumes of the solidarity he's building with his staff of Nate McMillan, Scott Brooks, Bob Beyer, Greg St. Jean, Lindsey Harding and Beau Levesque. 

After the game, Redick was asked about his first experience as a head coach. He immediately thanked his staff. 

"It felt comfortable and natural, but I'm very fortunate that I have the staff that I have, and the players that I get to coach. I'm very grateful for all that," Redick responded. 

Will stick to his guns
Despite the Lakers' win, it's easy to forget they shot 5-of-30 from three, with D'Angelo Russell (1-of-7) and Austin Reaves (0-of-5) struggling mightily from deep. Yet, Redick kept urging his shooters to go bombs away, as heard in one of his soundbites during a timeout. 

"When we play with pace, we can get anything we want," Redick told his team. "We're getting great shots — they will go in. They will go in."

Creative sets on offense
Redick's acumen was evident during his "Mind the Game" podcast when he discussed the intricacies of certain sets and how he'd run plays for specific players. Some wondered if those hypothetical offensive schemes would translate into a real game. There were several instances Tuesday when Redick ran plays for Anthony Davis and Dalton Knecht that left onlookers going, "there it is."

Walking the talk
In the days leading to his head-coaching debut, Redick repeatedly stressed that he wanted his team to focus on specific details such as offensive rebounding, fast-break points and transition defense, and win games within those margins. So far, so good. 

On opening night, the Lakers were 15-12 on the offensive glass, 17-7 on fast-break points and were very intent on stopping leak-outs by running back on defense. They were also super impressive in taking care of the basketball, committing only seven turnovers to Minnesota's 15.

The Volume's Jason Timpf praised Redick for ensuring the Lakers won the game within the margins despite a poor shooting night.

"Those are little details — things on the margins — that help you win basketball games," Timpf said.

Timpf also credited Redick for trusting in Russell and Reaves despite their poor shooting nights, suggesting that his predecessor, Darvin Ham, would have yanked them from the game by the fourth quarter. 

"Playing your best players as much as possible was a huge problem with Darvin Ham last year," Timpf said. "He didn't do that until the second half of the season, and that dug them a hole in the standings."