JJ Redick calls out Lakers’ lack of competitive ‘spirit’ after two-straight losses

This past weekend, the purple and gold club suffered two-tough losses in the NBA regular season. The first one was a last-second defeat against the Magic, with rival Franz Wagner scoring from beyond the arc in the final play of the match, and then again this Saturday to a 25-margin against the Nuggets. 

First-year coach JJ Redick had plenty to say after losing to Denver, a team who has tormented the Lakers for the past couple of seasons. The truth is, Michael Malone’s squad completely trashed Los Angeles on both sides of the court with an impressive 127-102 victory.

The L.A. coach was quick to point out his team’s lack of competitiveness, and even called it the most important factor behind their recent defeat. Even though the Lakers started out strong, even heading into halftime with a six-point lead, they were eventually outplayed in the second half of the match.

JJ Redick before vs after the Nuggets/Lakers game

"In some ways they some problems that are unsolvable at times" pic.twitter.com/dZwSkfdO5W

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What happened in the third quarter? Redick called out their poor spirit heading into the last phase of the game. “Schematically, certainly we’ll have to review some stuff,” JJ told the press postgame. “Clearly, the spirit to compete just wasn’t there… We’ll solve it like we solve other problems, but actually, we’ll do that internally.”

The rookie tactician also made it clear that the ghosts from the past weren’t haunting the purple and gold squad, as Denver had eliminated them from the playoffs during the 2022-23 campaign, in which the Nuggets ended up lifting the NBA trophy.

“I had a pretty clear idea of what happened,” Redick assured. “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. [It] was just not the right spirit.”

As for Anthony Davis, he recognized how poorly they’re confronted the game’s second half. “We were bad in the third quarter,” said the star big man. “We weren’t making shots, and we scored 15 points in the third. That was the game right there. We were giving up a lot of backdoors that we weren’t giving up in the first half. Maybe we go back to a zone or set defense. We just [have to] score the basketball.”

The Lakers All-Star was clear in stating that their recent lost against Denver had nothing to do with his team’s recent-frustrating history against them

We all know that the Nuggets have dominated their matchups against the Lakers in the past couple of NBA campaigns, but both the purple and dog players and coach dissed at the idea that this had anything to do with their recent loss against them. “Because of this team? No. I mean, I personally don’t. I’m not sure about anyone else, but I don’t think it does,” said Anthony Davis.

“I think we just got to be better on both ends of the floor,” he added. “We’ve had multiple games this season where we played well in the first half, then didn’t in the second half, but we still found ways to win. Guys still made shots.”

For the All-Star center, the reasons why they lost are very clear, and it has to do with their performance during the game’s second half. “You know, 15 points in the third quarter is not going to cut it against anybody,” Davis admitted.

The Los Angeles squad is now hoping to turn the page and confront their upcoming back-to-back road games, first against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday and then against the San Antonio Spurs the next day.