The Lakers confidently set on the road trip for their next five matchups after three home game wins. But so far, it has been a disaster. With two consecutive Ls recorded in the stat sheet, JJ Redick‘s tone has now slightly shifted. “If there’s one thing to nitpick, it’s probably me,” Redick confessed after being defeated by the Suns. Taking the blame on himself for their unimpressive offense, the head coach said he needed to ensure their efficiency. With that mindset, the HC led his team to face the Cavaliers.

The Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse was filled with enthusiastic supporters, who came to witness the King’s homecoming. But it wasn’t anything like LeBron had hoped for. Rather, the 134-110 defeat made him and Anthony Davis the fall guys in the eyes of Redick.

From the opening quarter, the home team showed dominance by dropping 42 points while the Lakers could only put up 23 on the scoreboard. The early lead helped the Cavs to make a difference in the game which the LA couldn’t recover. When Redick was asked in the postgame press conference about Cleveland’s energy after the game, he acknowledged them as a really good team and commended their players for their phenomenal performance. “I think we just kinda got punched in the mouth a little bit,” taking a long pause he continued, “We play good teams, you can’t afford a lot of mistakes. We made a lot of mistakes.”

Low man rotations and not switching early in the game were some of the things that cost the Lakers, according to the former Duke. He also highlighted, “They did a lot of things that forced us into those mistakes, but you play a good basketball team, you can’t make that many mistakes.” Redick further added, “Frankly, you get down early and then, you know, you are at a deficit with turnovers.” The HC certainly pointed towards LeBron James‘ 6 turnovers and AD’s 4.

Being the most experienced players in the team, they are expected to commit fewer mistakes, however, they couldn’t live up to the expectations. “It’s not a winnable game if you do those things, turn the ball over 20 plus times,” Redick stated. But his autopsy of the loss wasn’t over just there.

JJ Redick points out the Lakers’ lack of clarity during the game

The Lakers looked like they were not prepared to face a Cleveland side that appears so polished this season. Besides maintaining accuracy with their passes and shots, they also focused on creating problems for the Lakers with their off-the-ball skills. Redick admitted the tough time his team had dealt with those. “You certainly can ask and want to have a little more pride on the basketball,” he expressed his disappointment. “I don’t think, the focus and attention to detail, of what we were trying to do was great tonight.”

Redick further highlighted that he couldn’t feel the effort or competitiveness among his players. So the 40-year-old feels that some things need to be reemphasized and taught again so that they can improve. There are three more games left on this trip and if JJ Redick can give the refresher before that, then a positive result can be expected from the Lakers.