JJ Redick: Turnovers Killed Lakers In Loss To Timberwolves
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Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick was afforded a rare break to help reset the team and get them ready for another tough stretch of games.
The Lakers got several days off due to the Emirates NBA Cup, though Redick opted to use the time to let his players heal as several of them are banged up. While the extra rest certainly had to do some good, it didn’t help Los Angeles offensively as they were defeated by the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.
Both teams weren’t particularly sharp and some of that can probably be attributed to the extended layoff, though the Lakers arguably had their best defensive game of the 2024-25 season. However, they were extremely careless with the basketball as they committed 21 turnovers compared to just 13 for Minnesota.
After the loss, Redick admitted that the turnovers ruined the team’s chances of winning the game, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“They came in a number of ways,” Redick said. “Some passes that we tried to fit through tight windows. You never want to inbound the ball to the other team after made field goal and give up a dunk. Some of it was not holding our positioning and timing our sort of physicality to get open on ‘Horns.’ I think we had three turnovers just on ‘Horns’ alone. Yeah, it killed us.””
It would be easy to point to rust being the reason behind the sloppy play, but as Redick noted some of it just came down to execution and a lack of focus. There were several examples of egregious turnovers, with one of them being when Rui Hachimura carelessly inbounded the ball to Anthony Davis who wasn’t paying attention. The Timberwolves stole the ball and dunked it, encapsulating how the night went for the Lakers.
Another factor was LeBron James’ absence, forcing Redick to lean on other ball handlers to try and organize the offense. However, whoever’s on the floor can’t give up the basketball so easily especially on the road against a good team like the Timberwolves.
The Lakers will have a chance to bounce back on Sunday, though they’ll be going up against the Memphis Grizzlies who have already shown they are extra motivated when they come to town.
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