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JJ Redick goes off on Lakers again after blowout loss to Rockets: ‘We don’t care enough’
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- JJ Redick goes off on Lakers again after blowout loss to Rockets: ‘We don’t care enough’
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Lakers coach J.J. Redick didn't leave anything under the tree for his players after a pitiful Christmas Day performance against the Rockets .
After a 119-96 home loss to Houston , Redick went scorched earth on his team postgame, calling out his players without truly shedding light on who the problem is in his eyes.
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"Yeah, two words of the day were effort and execution. When we've done both those things at a high level, we've been a good basketball team. When we haven't, we're a terrible basketball team," Redick said when asked what went wrong Thursday.
"And tonight, we were a terrible basketball team, and it started legitimately right away."
While Redick did not mention any names, Lakers role player Rui Hachimura was among those who looked lost on the court Thursday night.
Hachimura scored zero points on 0-6 shooting in 28 minutes with a minus-29 plus/minus rating.
"Because we don't care enough right now," Redick said of his team's woes. "We all care. But we don't do the things that are necessary. We don't care enough to be a professional."
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After starting the season 15-4, the Lakers (19-10) are a shell of themselves right now, dropping six of their last 10 games and being outscored by an average of 9.6 points per game.
"It's a matter of making the choice, and too often we have guys that don't want to make that choice. And it's pretty consistent who those guys are. And so, Saturday's practice is gonna be uncomfortable," Redick said. "The meeting is gonna be uncomfortable. I'm not doing another 53 games like this."
JJ Redick watches Thursday's loss. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The team's best player, Luka Dončić , agreed that the Lakers need to look within when asked about the plan to right the ship.
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"I don't know what has to change, but definitely something needs to change," Doncic told reporters . "Think we [were] blown out the last three games. It definitely looks, like, terrible. We've got to figure out that's the thing we have to do. … We just got to talk about it. Everybody got to talk about it. I know JJ said it's going to be uncomfortable [for everybody]. As they should be."
"Everybody has got to give better effort, starting with me," he added.
Rui Hachimura played a terrible game on Christmas Day. Getty Images
Meanwhile, LeBron James played a solid game in his own right, going for 18 points with five assists on 7-13 from the field, but he did not speak to the media after the loss.
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Lineups that include James and Hachimura have a defensive rating of 127.2, one of the worst in the NBA.
The Lakers also lost one of their top players, Austin Reaves , to a calf injury Thursday, which the team says will require an MRI.
If he misses extended time, expect free-agent signing Marcus Smart to help with perimeter defense in a bigger role.
