MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Shorthanded and undersized, the Los Angeles Lakers couldn’t afford many mistakes in their road trip finale at Memphis.
With Anthony Davis out after suffering a left heel contusion the previous game in Detroit and Rui Hachimura out after dealing with an illness that has spread across the locker room over the past couple of weeks, the Lakers were missing two frontcourt starters and two of their top four scorers. Davis’ absence, in particular, left the Lakers with only two traditional big men, Jaxson Hayes and two-way center Christian Koloko, with Koloko appearing in his first game in almost 19 months after having to sit out because of blood clots.
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies, one of the biggest and fastest teams in the league, start three players 6-foot-10 or taller and play another two bigs 6-8 or taller off the bench. The size disadvantage was too much for the Lakers to overcome, as they were ultimately run off the floor in a 131-114 loss. The defeat concluded a disastrous 1-4 road trip for the Lakers, which dropped them to 4-4 overall and sapped the good vibes and positivity from their 3-0 start under new coach JJ Redick.
When asked after the game if he felt satisfied with his team’s effort in an undermanned performance, Redick didn’t hide his disappointment in his group.
“None of us are,” Redick said.
Energy, effort and focus were issues on the road trip, often translating to awful transition defense, subpar defensive rebounding and ill-timed defensive breakdowns.
The Lakers gave up 130-plus points twice on the trip. Three of their four losses were by double digits. They’ve slipped to 28th in defensive rating, allowing 118.8 points per 100 possessions and undermining their eighth-ranked offense.
“At the end of the day, especially when you lose bodies, you got to compete,” LeBron James said. “You got to compete even harder. You got to be out there giving it everything that you got and on both ends. I think there were times that we did that, but the majority of the time, I don’t think we sustained energy and effort.”
Redick singled out James, who had a season-high 39 points (including six 3s) and admirably battled Jaren Jackson Jr. in the post, as being a tone-setter on Wednesday. But he also found it absurd that a 39-year-old was playing harder than his much younger teammates.
“I think LeBron was fantastic tonight,” Redick said. “Almost 40 years old and played the hardest on our team. It says a lot about him.”
It also said a lot about the rest of the group. While there were several players to point to, D’Angelo Russell drew the ire of Redick after a sequence in which Russell was blocked by Jay Huff on a step-back 3-pointer and then didn’t make the proper defensive rotation to contest Huff seconds later.
During the ensuing timeout, Redick lit into Russell as he walked away to regroup with his coaching staff. Redick pulled Russell and didn’t play him the rest of the way (the final 17:54). Russell finished having played 21:33, the fewest minutes of any starter and his lowest total of the season.
Afterward, Redick was candid in sharing why he went away from his starting point guard.
“Just level of compete,” Redick said. “Attention to detail. Some of the things we’ve talked with him about for a couple of weeks. And at times, he’s been really good with that stuff. And other times, it’s just reverting back to certain habits. But it wasn’t like a punishment. It just felt for us to have a chance to win this game, that was the route we wanted to take. Gabe (Vincent) in the first half, especially defensively, was fantastic. And I just wanted to see what that looked like.”
Redick has closed with Vincent over Russell in three prior games, signifying his trust in Vincent’s defense and steadiness, even if he has been shooting poorly to start the season (and really, his limited tenure as a Laker).
As the team heads back to Los Angeles, Redick said his biggest lesson from the trip is that the Lakers need a baseline level of focus and intensity from the group to compete. When they’ve had that, they’ve looked like the surprise team they were to open the season. When they haven’t, they’ve been dominated.
“It goes back to choices,” Redick said. “I think something that we’ve discussed as a group. And you have a choice every night for how you play, and it has nothing to do with making shots. There’s got to be a group of people, seven, eight guys, that make that choice. And we’re a really good basketball team. (If) we have a handful, we have two or three, we’re not gonna be a good basketball team that night. So that’s just the reality.”
Davis is expected to return Friday vs. Philadelphia, according to Redick. The game tips off a much-needed home-heavy stretch for the Lakers. Including the preseason, they have played 11 of their first 14 games outside of Los Angeles. They’ll play six of their next eight games at home.
To make up the ground they lost in the standings and climb back above .500, the Lakers are going to have to play with a level of urgency that has been difficult for the group to sustain dating back to last season. Redick already made a key rotation change by inserting Cam Reddish into the lineup — and it’s worked, with Reddish leading the bench with 15 points and six rebounds against the Grizzlies — and reducing Max Christie’s minutes. If the team continues its skid, perhaps Redick will make even larger changes.
The status quo isn’t working. In the final question of his postgame news conference, Redick was asked how he addressed his concerns with his group.
“I just did,” Redick said, dropping the microphone on the table for the second time on the trip.
As he walked away from the podium, he shouted back toward the group of reporters.
“First thing I said to them,” Redick said.
(Photo of Gabe Vincent and Memphis’ Scotty Pippen Jr.: Justin Ford / Getty Images)
