JJ Redick names biggest Lakers pitfall that will cause NBA Playoffs losses originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Los Angeles Lakers handily beat the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of their NBA Playoffs campaign. Despite the 107-98 win, Coach JJ Redick posits that LeBron James and the rest of the squad need make certain adjustments. He named two of them after their victory that needs to be urgently addressed as they await the return of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
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A win does not mean that the Lakers are content in their NBA Playoffs series against the Rockets. Coach JJ Redick posits that his team has a lot of improvements to make if they wish to extend their postseason run for Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. What exactly are the two things that need to be addressed by the team led by LeBron James? The Lakers head coach says that it’s their turnovers and rebounds, via Dan Woike of The Athletic.
“Just thought we were really poised as a team. We had a great next-play mentality. Wasn’t a perfect game. None of these games are gonna be perfect. Got contributions from a lot of people in a lot of different ways, and made enough winning plays, despite the turnovers and the offensive rebounds,” Coach Redick said.
The Lakers head coach is right. James along with the other big men like Deandre Ayton were not fighting hard enough to clean the offensive glass. In the whole 40 minutes of this NBA Playoffs game, the Lakers only grabbed three offensive rebounds. This is such a huge disparity when the Rockets’ 21 offensive rebounds are factored in.
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Moreover, the Lakers’ ball security and playmaking have also not been the best. A lot of it is due to not having their two primary playmakers in Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. But, the Rockets were practically clawing themselves back in the game because of this. The Lakers turned the ball over 18 times which led to 24 points for the Rockets. Clearly, James and Marcus Smart need to improve in setting plays better so this NBA Playoffs series does not slip away from their hands.
