Lakers insider highlights LA's flaws in blowout loss to Warriors in preseason game
The LA Lakers looked impressive in patches, but that wasn't enough to avoid a blowout 111-97 loss against the Golden State Warriors at the T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday (Oct. 15). The Purple and Gold struggled in the third quarter on offense, the 11-40 from beyond the arc explaining their torrid time on the floor. Lakers insider Jovan Buha of The Athletic shed perspective on the team's flaws following their tough defeat.
Speaking on his podcast 'Buha's Block', he spoke of the mistakes LA had to sort ahead of their final preseason skirmish against the Phoenix Suns. He added that the side, considering it was the preseason, did not play hard despite announcing it early on. Buha touched on the offense stagnating at different points between the first and second quarters. He also disagreed with head coach JJ Redick and some of the players who specified the third stretch was where they lost the game.
Buha highlighted shot selection and lack of off-ball movement from the players in the first half. Pace, movement, and rhythm were looked at as missing factors from last season — aspects that made LA successful against quick and smaller teams in the league.
The insider felt "there was a lot to be concerned" defensively, and while it was understandable that LA was without their better perimeter defenders, they still looked like a below-par team on that side of the floor. After entering the game with better size than Golden State, the Lakers failed to make use of the edge.
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On the game front, Austin Reaves played on a minutes restriction and propped up 13 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists in 17 minutes. D'Angelo Russell struggled tallying just 6 points and 7 rebounds. LeBron James had just 6 points to show for. Rui Hachimura continued his impressive preseason form with 15 points and 9 boards. While Anthony Davis stood out with his 24-point 12-rebound double-double.
"When we made stuff up, they hurt us": JJ Redick explains LA Lakers loss to Warriors
JJ Redick weighed in on the Lakers' loss attributing it to deviating from the set gameplan to counter the Warriors. While he felt the shot creation and the opportunities on the front were good to see, the stagnation was what cost them.
“When we made stuff up, they hurt us. I was highly encouraged by the shots we got. Highly encouraged,” Redick said. “It was when we didn’t trust our offense and got a little stagnant, the ball stuck."
LA has a chance to rectify their errors against the Suns next. The clash will be a dress rehearsal potentially for their regular season starting Tuesday (Oct. 22). It will be interesting to see if they can pull up for a win in their final tune-up skirmish.