After a 128-106 blowout loss to the Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick took excemption to the officiating in the game, calling out his opponent's defense during his postgame media availability. The Lakers faced the Pistons on LeBron James' 41st birthday, as Detroit handed Los Angeles its 11th loss of the season.
After the game, Redick called out the Pistons' defense for commiting fouls, many of which weren't called throughout the night, he said, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
“I think there's probably a level of frustration when you're turning the ball over and you're feeling like you're getting fouled,” Redick said. “There's frustration there, for sure. But I mean, again, I said it even here, we said it this morning: They're going to foul every possession. It's just, you got to play through it.”
The Pistons coerced the Lakers to commit 20 turnovers.
“They're going to foul on every possession, probably three or four times,” Redick added. “And that's not a knock, I'm not saying it in a negative way, but they're going to foul three or four times on every possession. [And the officials are] not going to call a foul on every possession.”
Cade Cunningham's 27 points on 12-of-19 shooting led the Pistons. Luka Doncic's 30 points and 11 assists led the Lakers. Doncic also found James on of his better assists of the night. James added 17 points, four assists, and four rebounds.
Luka Doncic on Pistons' physicality in Lakers loss
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Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) moves the ball up court against the Houston Rockets during the first half at Crypto.com Arena.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
Lakers guard Luka Doncic says the Pistons' physicality played a significant role in Tuesday's blowout loss. However, Doncic didn't complain about his opponents fouling. Instead, he vowed to match the Pistons' intensity for upcoming matchups, in the future.
“We've got to definitely match their physicality,” Doncic said. “That's the whole point. We got to match how they play. You saw the refs let it go, so we should play [with] physicality, for sure.”
LeBron James, on the other hand, sounded as if he agreed more with coach JJ Redick, but, from his postgame comments, decided not to elaborate. Perhaps as a means to avoiding a hefty fine.
“It's not my lane to talk about how it was officiated or not,” James said.
The Lakers will look to bounce back from their loss when they host the Grizzlies on Thursday.