JJ Redick head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers
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JJ Redick head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers
It was another disaster for the Lakers in Portland on Saturday night, as the defense allowed 130-plus points to a sub-.500 team for the second straight outing, losing 132-116 to the Trail Blazers. That’s three straight losses for the Lakers, who will play at home against the 25-18 Raptors on Sunday before embarking on their brutal eight-game, two-week annual awards season road trip.
The Lakers have lost five of their last six games, and from a high of 12 games over .500 on January 6, they’re now 24-16.
The Lakers were down multiple bodies in the game, with star guard Austin Reaves (calf) of course still out, as well as fellow star guard Luka Doncic (groin). Centers Deandre Ayton (knee) and Jaxson Hayes (hamstring) also sat out, forcing the Lakers to start little-used Maxi Kleber at center.
Still, the Lakers were pretty well shredded defensively by the Blazers, who shot 52.3% from the field and made 34 trips to the free-throw line.
Lakers Had Huge Free-Throw Disparity
In fact, the Lakers took only 21 free throws, and if there was any sign of this being a lopsided contest, it came in the first quarter when the Lakers shot three free throws and Portland shot 22. The Blazers led, 40-27 after that period.
Lakers coach JJ Redick was asked about that after the game and had an eye-opening critique of officiating, not just on Saturday but all season.
Redick even said that the game officials on Saturday told him they were not having a great night: “I mean, there’s always gonna be fouls. You can sit there and go through and like watch every single one—I do it sometimes. I’ll watch film, and I’ll watch a play, and I’ll (say), ‘Wait a minute — let me rewind that: zoom in, slow it down.’
“And you’re like, yeah, the officials don’t have that luxury. So, it’s more to your point, it’s more about the way the game is called. They got off to a bad start tonight. And they admitted that to me.”
JJ Redick: Refs ‘Were All Over the Map’
Redick said the problem that the Lakers had in Portland is something he has seen throughout the year, and that other teams have complained about, too. Individual calls may be missed or made, but there is usually a tenor to how a game is going to be refereed. And Redick said there hasn’t been that consistency–on Saturday and all season.
Redick continued: “Then, they kind of just, like, were all over the map. You know, making calls and not actually making a call. That happened multiple times, where we have to go over, ‘What’s going on? What’s the actual call here?’ Couldn’t get great communication from Pat (Fraher) all night, which we’ll put in the coach’s feedback. It was interesting.
“I’ve talked about it. It’s not to single them out, or it’s not the reason we lost. For whatever reason. And if you have to ask, probably the other 29 coaches, it feels like the inconsistency night-to-night within a game has been there for most of these crews.”