The Los Angeles Lakers rolled into Monday night time using a seven-game profitable streak, trying each bit like a group discovering its rhythm beneath JJ Redick.
Then the Phoenix Suns walked into Crypto.com Enviornment and delivered a actuality test.
Phoenix dominated from begin to end in a 125-108 win, snapping the Lakers’ streak and exposing points Redick didn’t hesitate to name out.
“Yeah, it’s quite simple,” Redick mentioned. [We] talked about it earlier than the sport to you guys and the group. If you happen to don’t play onerous towards that group, you’re gonna get uncovered. So, a number of occasions within the first half, we have now a numbers benefit in transition on the defensive finish and guys simply run by us. We talked about matching their physicality. [We] didn’t try this to any extent at any level within the sport.
“Perhaps there’s mind fog from three in 4 nights. I don’t know. I don’t keep in mind ever speaking about going beneath versus lasers and [Collin] Gillespie’s making threes and Royce O’Neale is making threes going up. It’s a bizarre form of factor. It truly is. It’s just like the ‘Monstars’ taking on folks that you simply’ve grown to educate they usually’re not doing something that they usually do. It’s bizarre.”
Fatigue might need performed a component, given it was the second night time of a back-to-back, however Redick made clear that drained legs don’t clarify the psychological breakdowns, turnovers, gradual rotations, and repeatedly going beneath screens whereas Phoenix buried threes.
“Yeah, the basketball gods reward you they usually additionally punish you,” Redick continued. “So, the moments after we had an opportunity to be rewarded, we didn’t do what we had been presupposed to do, and we received punished. And that was all through the sport, not only a singular second.”
The Lakers dedicated 21 turnovers, main on to 32 Phoenix factors.
Luka Doncic was chargeable for 9 of these, and regardless of dropping 38 factors, he owned the errors and accepted the blame for the loss.
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