JJ Redick slaps Lakers with blunt assessment after loss to D'Angelo Russell, Nets

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Life without LeBron James did not start off very well for the Los Angeles Lakers; with James dealing with a groin injury that is set to keep him out for weeks, the Lakers appeared to have a golden opportunity to get back to winning ways after seeing their eight-game winning streak come to an end over the weekend against the Boston Celtics as they faced a struggling Brooklyn Nets squad. However, the Lakers tripped up on a banana peel, losing 111-108 after Luka Doncic’s heave from beyond halfcourt missed at the buzzer.

On Monday night, the Lakers’ effort levels were a far cry from where they’ve been over the past month or so; the Nets pummeled them on the offensive boards, and the Lakers’ execution on the offensive end wasn’t as tight as was required, leading to their defeat. They turned the ball over 15 times, and head coach JJ Redick believes that this was emblematic of the team’s collective “low-level communication” on the night.

“We just wanted to take shortcuts. Just shortcuts. You want to be a good team in the NBA? Want to win? You have to do the hard stuff,” Redick said following the Lakers’ loss, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

There are times when talent makes up for gaps in execution; but the loss of James means that coasting by on talent isn’t going to be an option for the Lakers over the next few weeks or so. At the very least, this is a wake-up call for Doncic and company to tighten up the way they play the game and pay more attention to detail — beginning with their Thursday night contest against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Luka Doncic, Lakers adjust to life without LeBron James

The dynamic duo of Luka Doncic and LeBron James has figured out how to work together in such a short period of time. Doncic has the primary controls of the offense whenever the two share the court, with James thriving off the ball in such scenarios. But without James, opposing defenses can load up more on Doncic and force him into tougher shots.

On Monday, Doncic struggled with his shot; he made just eight of his 26 field-goal attempts on the night, although he still recorded a triple-double (22 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists). They simply fell short in the end, although the silver lining is that their issues appear to be very fixable moving forward.

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