JJ Redick and the Los Angeles Lakers were caught out by the Houston Rockets in a 115-119 loss on the road last night.
The Los Angeles Lakers almost executed their biggest comeback of the season. They fell behind by 22 points in the first half against the Houston Rockets last night but cut the score down to two late in the fourth quarter. It wasn’t enough as the Lakers fell to a 115-119 loss.
One of the biggest takeaways for Lakers head coach JJ Redick was the sensational play of Jalen Green and Amen Thompson. Redick praised both players after the game, referring to them as the architects of the Rockets win.
“Jalen Green’s shotmaking was huge for them but Thompson killed us all night. Whether that was in transition with his cutting or on the offensive glass…
“The Jalen Green end-of-shot-clock shotgun a double-team which ends up in Amen Thompson’s hands in a two-point game, just certain plays like that, they’re big momentum swings.”
Jalen Greed led the Rockets in scoring with 33 points (12-24 FG), six rebounds, and four assists. Amen Thompson was a major difference-maker, ending the night with 23 points (11-19 FG) and a game-high 16 rebounds. Green’s ability to make tough shots gave the Rockets life as the JJ Redick-led Lakers were surging back in the second half.
As JJ Redick mentioned, Thompson’s aggressiveness for rebounds was game-changing. He kept catching Lakers’ players out of position and maximized every missed shot. Amen grabbed six offensive rebounds in the win, with Houston scoring 26 second-chance points.
Green is averaging 20.0 points and 4.5 rebounds this season while Amen is averaging 12.3 points and 7.4 rebounds, with both playing key roles in Houston’s success this season.
JJ Redick was upset as the Lakers were out-hustled on the boards in this loss. They grabbed 10 fewer rebounds than the Rockets, with Houston also grabbing 18 offensive rebounds. He lamented the same in his post-game interview.
“The difference is we made shots. We were able to get stops but it’s hard to get two stops on one possession. We did a better job at containing the ball. Throughout the game, we emphasized that they’re super disruptive and we only had 10 turnovers. That’s fantastic. It was a game where if we don’t turn the ball over and keep them off the glass, we win the game. We did one of those pretty well”
Since taking over the Lakers this season, JJ Redick has urged the team to play with high effort. Their effort was visible as they made a 20-point comeback, with execution failing them in the final seconds.
Unfortunately, some poorly executed ATOs cost the Lakers this game. The key one came with the final possession of the game, as Max Christie failed to inbound the ball to LeBron James. This led to a turnover that made it a two-possession lead for the Rockets with no time left.
JJ Redick was upset about the failed execution on the final play.
“Just didn’t execute. We had 4 ATOs we didn’t execute, and that’s shocking to me. We came into this game No. 2 in PPP on ATOs, we have done great all year. Three times before that, I didn’t do what we were supposed to do. I don’t know, it’s hard… (We were trying to get) to a LeBron shot. We didn’t execute it though.”
The Lakers have a chance to bounce back from this loss against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday. They’re 20-15 on the season and are currently in a three-way tie for the No. 5 seed with the Mavericks and the Los Angeles Clippers.
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