The Los Angeles Lakers are once again looking to go into a terrible slump. Starting the season off with three back-to-back victories, the Los Angeles-based side looked like their old champion self. However, they lost the plot in the middle, losing three matches, until coming back to winning ways. Unfortunately, after registering straight victories in six games, things are looking bleak again for the Lakers.
After losing to the Orlando Magic, the LeBron James-led side lost to the Denver Nuggets as well. And while the Lakers missed out by just a point to the Magic, with the Nuggets, the gap was huge. After all, a team dreaming of winning the championship this year must not be losing 102-127. And clearly, such a crushing defeat did not sit well with their HC, JJ Redick.
Speaking about what went down in the middle, Redick looked frustrated and blamed his players. “Schematically, certainly we’ll have to review some stuff, clearly, the spirit to compete just wasn’t there… We’ll solve it like we solve other problems… But obviously, we’ll do it internally,” stated Redick. Now, such disappointment from the coach is pretty much justified, provided how the Lakers let the Nuggets run away with the game.
Los Angeles Lakers’ Bizarre Slip-Up Leads To JJ Redick Losing His Cool
The purple and gold brigade looked firmly placed, leading proceedings 63-57 at halftime. However, much to the surprise of their fans, they let go of the leash in the third quarter. This made room for the Nuggets to make inroads as they went on a 7-0 scoring spree in the third. In a drastic turn of events, the Lakers gave away their lead, which the Nuggets now led by 94-78 at the end of the third quarter.
JJ Redick on what went wrong for the Lakers in the third quarter: “Clearly the spirit to compete just wasn’t there.”
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) November 24, 2024
Nikola Jokic was the usual star performer for the Nuggets. He dropped 34 points, 8 assists, and 13 rebounds to take the Nuggets to victory. Russell Westbrook, too, played decently well, registering 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 11 assists. Now, such a slip-up was reason enough to anger coach Redick. And he didn’t mince his words either. “I have a pretty clear idea of what happened in the third… But whatever it was, it was not because we were haunted by the ghosts of the past or something like that. It was kind of obvious to me what happened there. Just not the right spirit,” said Redick.
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