Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick was fuming after his team's 111-108 loss to the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Monday. In his postgame press conference, Redick ripped his players and refused to use injuries as an excuse for the defeat.
Reporter: "What's the right way to handle the blitz, and what were the things that weren't happening, if you agree that was something that was an issue tonight?"
JJ Redick: "Just throw the ball to the guy, and you play four-on-three."
Reporter: "Do you know why that wasn't that happening as much?"
Redick: "I think it was a very low-level communication game for our team."
Reporter: "You knew you were going to be shortanded, but what's the frustration level that the guys that you had out there [were] not playing better?"
Redick: "I don't think being short-handed is an excuse for how we played basketball tonight."
Reporter: "JJ, you guys shot two free throws in the first half. A lot of griping from your players. Do you think that took them out of any sort of rhythm?"
Redick: “No, I think it was just an overall mentality just to take shortcuts tonight. We just wanted to take shortcuts. They scored 20 points on us gambling. They had 16 offensive rebounds. We ball-watched all night... They probably made six, seven uncontested threes. Just shortcuts. Want to be a good team? You want to win in the NBA? You got to do the hard stuff.
"We couldn't even pass to each other. We couldn't enter our offense. Running ball screens at literally half court? Yeah, that's going to end up in a turnover. I don't know what we're doing."
With LeBron James out, the Nets blitzed Luka Doncic for much of the night, and the Lakers superstar wasn't able to make them pay for it. Part of the reason for that was, as Redick stated, the players not communicating well on the court to take advantage of certain situations. The lack of communication also led to them giving up some wide-open shots on the other end, and even bad teams will make you pay for that.
As if all this wasn't bad enough, the Lakers just didn't play with a great deal of urgency on either end of the floor. They had 15 total turnovers on the night and forced the Nets into just seven. The hosts were also allowed to haul in 16 offensive rebounds, and when you do so many things wrong in a game, there's a good chance you'll lose.
The fact that the Lakers only lost by three points despite all this shows just how winnable this game was. They even led by as many as 15 points at one stage but allowed the Nets to get back into the contest with their sloppiness. All that would have added to Redick's frustrations.
This was the Lakers' second straight loss, and they have now dropped to 40-23 this season. They are currently third in the Western Conference but are at serious risk of dropping to fifth, as both the 41-24 Memphis Grizzlies and 40-25 Houston Rockets are on three-game winning streaks.
The Lakers cannot afford to have too many more slip-ups, but they have got some difficult games coming up. They face the Milwaukee Bucks next at Fiserv Forum on Thursday at 7:30 PM ET, and you wouldn't fancy their chances of winning if they play the way they did against the Nets.
## Instant Analysis: Depleted Lakers Fall To Fiery Nets As Slump Continues
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