Redick hails Lakers’ practice, rues earlier lack of focus

Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick lauded Monday’s practice and called it the best they have had in months. The Lakers suffered a 117-95 loss in the opening game of the first round playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves and they would be determined to bounce back in the second game of the series.

The Lakers were not up to the mark in the opening game of the series. Redick admitted if Lakers had approached their off days leading up to the playoffs with the same confidence, they might not have suffered such a blowout loss.

“We probably could have done a few more scrimmages,” Redick said Monday.

“Hopefully we can just right our wrongs,” Lakers guard Austin Reaves said Monday. “We played bad; they shot the ball really well. They’re obviously a really good team that’s physical. We got to match that. Tomorrow it’ll be different story.”

Reaves could only score 16 points on 5-for-13 shooting and registered a plus-minus of minus-25 in 37 minutes.

“S—ty,” Reaves said of his performance after reviewing film. “I wasn’t myself. To what the reason was, don’t know. But just got to go out there and be myself, play my game and have fun doing it.”

Redick admitted the lack of organization led to their downfall in the opening game and they would look to turn a corner.

“I think a lot of times you would hear that word and then you would think, ‘Oh, it’s the point guard calling a play,'” Redick said. “No, it’s just all of the normal stuff that we try to do, and when we do it, we’re really good. Being organized is screening. Being organized is getting to the proper spacing. Being organized is getting the corners filled after makes and misses. That’s being organized.”

The Lakers will play the second game at home and will have a chance to level the series.

“It’s a wake-up call in the sense of we have to be preparing every single possession,” Reaves said. Added Redick: “We just have to do a lot of things better, and it starts with playing harder and being organized.”