Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick praised his team’s response to adversity after Luka Doncic scored 53 points in Friday’s 124-118 win over Portland.
“I think we’re already a really together group,” Redick said after the Lakers erased a 16-point deficit and secured their fourth consecutive victory. “You don’t become a resilient team in 10 games, five games, 20 games. It takes a full season to build that resiliency.”
Redick also highlighted the importance of the team’s halftime response, particularly after Portland built its advantage in the first half.
“I think the guys are doing a great job of responding at halftime. We’ve had really good third quarters,” he said. “I just, at some point, I hope we’re better with our execution on the defensive end to start the game.”
The Lakers outscored Portland 34-15 in the third quarter, turning a seven-point halftime deficit into an 88-75 lead. Redick said the improvement came from better execution rather than major tactical changes.
“I wouldn’t call it adjustments. We cleaned up what we talked about,” he explained. “They always, you know, so far this year, they’ve responded nearly every time at halftime to just clean things up.”
The Lakers also overcame a difficult start from three-point range, missing their first 15 attempts before Doncic banked in a 61-foot shot at the halftime buzzer.
Redick revealed that assistant coach Bo had highlighted the team’s expected offensive rating despite the shooting struggles.
“Every time out, you know, we’re getting good shots,” Redick said. “It wasn’t just the coaches, but, yeah, every time out, you know, we’re getting good shots.”
He added: “So we just stay with our process. And, again, I think the crashing was a big part of that. We got opportunities to score. We got second chances.”
Redick also discussed how Doncic and Austin Reaves handled Portland’s defensive pressure, including the Lakers’ use of stack screens against the opposition’s drop coverage.
“I thought he was fantastic again. There was, you know, I think both him and A.R. did a good job,” Redick said. “I thought those guys did a good job of that.”
The coach then addressed Doncic’s extraordinary shot-making, including the halftime buzzer-beater from 61 feet.
“I think all our guys can make shots and then Luka can do some things that maybe a handful, if not no one can do in basketball,” Redick said. “You expect him to, like, when he shoots it from three-quarter court, you’re surprised when it doesn’t at least go in and out or hit the rim.”
Redick also praised the team’s defensive disruption, which helped force 24 Portland turnovers. The Lakers converted those mistakes into 15 points.
“We turned the ball over four times in transition. There’s still more. There’s still more that we can do,” he said. “So that’s promising.”
Despite the victory, Redick stressed that the Lakers still have work ahead before becoming a championship-caliber team.
“This is going to be a long process, and it’s going to take time for us to become a great basketball team,” he said. “I like that our guys have responded to some adversity.”
He added that Friday’s comeback offered another encouraging sign: “The fact that this is a very together group and we’ve already shown a level of resiliency, it’s exciting and it’s promising, and I want to continue to blow on that.”
The Lakers visit the Detroit Pistons on Sunday, November 8, while Portland hosts the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.
