JJ Redick looked to storm through the Lakers’ arena after the All-Star break. His squad had a full week to recharge, no injuries on the report, and a 30-game dash ahead—one that could mark their best regular-season finish since they won it all in 2020. Everything pointed to a strong push to the finish line.

Then the game happened. A brutal 100-97 loss sucked the air out of the building, crushing any excitement before it even had a chance to build. With 3:16 left in the third, Austin Reaves made his move to the hoop, slipping past Jusuf Nurkic. Contact on his arm? Clear as day. A whistle? Nowhere to be heard. Frustrated, he turned to the ref, letting him know exactly how he felt. That earned him a tech. But Reaves wasn’t done. He kept going, still fired up over the no-call. Before he could finish, another whistle cut him off—his second technical. Just like that, the officials tossed him out.

After the game, JJ Redick didn’t hold back when discussing Austin Reaves’ ejection, questioning the call made by referee Rodney Mott. “I didn’t get a good explanation on that one to be honest with you,” Redick said. “We heard what he said on the second one. It was I, I don’t think any of us thought it was worthy of getting an ejection, but I’m sure they’ll give you guys a good answer,” he added. He sure remains bitter with those snide remarks.

But he doesn’t blame it all on Reaves’ ejection. “I don’t think it was just the Austin minutes. I mean, that certainly hurt us for the rest of the game, not having him out there,” Redick said. “But overall I think we played, I don’t even know, 39 to 44 minutes of pretty poor offense, and some of that’s to be expected. Some of it was sloppiness. Some of it was poor spacing. Some of it was poor execution.” 

Even with the offensive struggles, Redick believed the team had enough fight to win. “I thought our—our effort and—and competitive spirit was good enough to win,” he said. “Just—we’re really poor offensively for 90 percent of the game,” said the 40-year-old coach.

Well, it was a tough loss for the Lakers, and their troubles only get worse as Redick identifies an additional problem.

JJ Redick’s problems increase after the loss against the Hornets

The Lakers couldn’t snap their losing streak, dropping a close one at home to the Hornets, 100-97. It wasn’t the best night for Luka Doncic, who struggled with his shot, finishing with just 14 points on an inefficient 5-of-18 from the field (27.8%). Despite firing off a season-high 51 three-pointers, the Lakers couldn’t capitalize.

Head coach JJ Redick addressed the team’s shot selection, admitting they’re still adjusting after recent trades. But he isn’t sweating it just yet.

“I think sometimes when the group is trying to get acclimated with each other, you can try to play the right way too much and turn down shots, and then you can try to get yourself into the rhythm and not make the extra pass,” Redick said.

The chemistry might not be there yet, but Redick is embracing the challenge.

“I think the flow of everything is going to improve. I’m excited because it’s a new problem to solve. We’ll work our b—- off to try to solve the problem,” he added.

The Lakers, sitting at 32-21 and holding the fifth seed in the West, won’t have much time to dwell on this one. They’re hitting the road next, with games against Portland and Denver on deck.