In the first game without Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic, the Lakers suffered a loss to the tanking Mavericks. The Purple and Gold franchise only outscored the Dallas team in the fourth frame, as they were playing catch-up for the majority of the game. Coach JJ Redick did not mince his words in calling out this effort as he plans for the playoffs.
“Yeah, I think the biggest thing I talked about after the game, we’ve got to get back to what we did for six weeks, which is being good on both sides of the ball, said Redick before the Thunder game on Tuesday. “I think that starts with our effort; we did not do a good job in either of the last two games of just simply running back on defense. The first and third quarters were two of the most atrocious things I’ve ever watched in my life.
You’re not going to guard if you don’t run back. So that goes into you know, sort of the philosophy with tonight. Being out with LeBron and obviously with Smart and AR and Luka, like our playoff rotation is not set in the first round. So, um, we’ve got to evaluate everybody, and we’ve got to find, who those guys are that we can trust and put in the playoffs.”
The Lakers allowed the Mavericks to score 41 in the first quarter and 40 in the third, despite Dallas being the 29th-ranked offense. So, JJ Redick wants to go back to the form that the team displayed in March, where they went on a 15-2 run. No doubt, Luka Doncic was on a streak and scored 37.5 points on average with 49.2% shooting, but defensively, too, the Lakers were solid.
After JJ Redick said “the 1st and 3rd quarters were 2 of the most atrocious things that I’ve ever watched in my life”, he made it clear that Lakers playoff rotation isn’t set; roster is being evaluated
as for tonight? Redick told me that he wants “a compact shell” defensively pic.twitter.com/5w2lbkLgYs
— Law Murray
(@LawMurrayTheNU) April 8, 2026
They had the 11th best defensive rating in March, 111.7, and better than their season average of 116.0. But in April, in the two games they have played, it has slipped to 133.2, the worst in the league. Against Dallas, the Lakers conceded 24 fast-break points, had 12 turnovers for 21 points, and struggled on the defensive glass. All of this will be a problem in the playoffs, as those teams have even better offensive records to capitalize on.
Here, the problem remains that the team doesn’t have a primary ball handler. But against the Mavericks, one player did the job well and got the appreciation of the head coach.
JJ Redick creates another plan to tackle the loss of key players
Despite having a tie-break advantage over the Nuggets and the Rockets, securing the third seed is not safe for the Lakers. Injuries to Doncic, AR, LeBron, and Smart came at the worst time. Yet, JJ Redick called upon Luke Kennard to be the solution. The 29-year-old is a 3-point specialist, but he has shown flashes of being able to run an offense and set teammates up for shots. His triple-double of 15 points, 16 rebounds, and 11 assists against the Mavericks was proof.
“We talked a lot about simplifying the initial play call and getting into second actions,” Redick said after the game, and praised Kennard’s performance. “I think overall the guys did a really good job of that. I think we were 22-1 or 23-1 with 29 or more assists, now there’s two losses there. But it’s an encouraging sign. I think he did a nice job. We gotta figure out what can be the second ball-handler, obviously 41 minutes is too much for him. Him having to handle as well, that’s not a normal thing for him and probably contributed to him not having a great shooting night.”
Kennard notched his first triple-double of his career in a new role. But JJ Redick acknowledged that playing Kennard too much on the ball would limit the team’s opportunities from beyond the arc. So, when LeBron James and Marcus Smart return, the load will be shared as the head coach deals with the turbulent injury scenario.
