Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick has acknowledged that his team struggled to find rhythm without LeBron James in their season-opening defeat to the Golden State Warriors. Speaking after the game, Redick said it was difficult not to think about the absence of the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, who sat courtside in a suit as he continues to recover from a sciatica flare-up. “It’s hard to forget about LeBron,” Redick admitted. “When we couldn’t score against the zone in the first half, I thought, ‘It’d be great to have LeBron.’”

The matchup marked the first time in James’s storied 23-season career that he missed an opening night game. Luka Doncic led the Lakers with a near triple-double — 43 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists — while Austin Reaves added 26 points and Deandre Ayton chipped in 10. However, the Lakers faltered in the third quarter as Golden State launched an 18-4 run that proved decisive. “The trend I see is that we continue to be a terrible third-quarter team,” Redick said. “That was last year, that was preseason. We’ve got to rethink some things.”

With James expected to remain sidelined until November, Redick emphasized the need for every player to step up. “We need our guys to star in their roles,” he said. “That doesn’t change whether LeBron is in or out of the lineup.” Still, he lamented that Tuesday’s performance was undermined by “self-inflicted” mistakes that prevented the Lakers from closing out the game despite moments of promise.

#Jocomms #Lakers #NBA