JJ Redick singles out Lakers’ LeBron James misstep in Thunder loss

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers’ three-game winning streak was snapped following their 119-110 loss to the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night, a game in which the Thunder were short-handed without All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. It was a game the Lakers were in until late in the fourth quarter, and from head coach JJ Redick’s vantage point, the team didn’t get the ball to LeBron James enough.

Following the Lakers’ loss to the Thunder, JJ Redick explained how LeBron James consistently took advantage of the Thunder’s smaller defenders orchestrating the offense, and that he needed to touch the ball more down the stretch of the final period.

“I didn’t think we did a good job of getting LeBron the ball,” Redick said. “Some of that was we called plays and we didn’t execute, some of that was just not having the recognition. Him playing against smaller players was how we got back in the game, and we didn’t do a good job of getting him the ball. It’s frustrating.”

In the loss, James finished with a team-high 22 points, six rebounds, 10 assists and one steal in 36 minutes. He shot 9-of-17 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line, but missed all four of his 3-point attempts.

James was aggressive from the get-go, and ended up putting Chet Holmgren on a poster not once, but twice in the game. When stacking up against the defending champions, James acknowledged that the Lakers are not there due to their inability to sustain a full 48 minutes.

This season, James has appeared in 34 games at a little over 33 minutes per game. He’s been averaging 21.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.1 steals with splits of 50.1 percent shooting from the field, 31.4 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 74.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

He is in the midst of a historic 23rd season in the NBA and was recently named to his 22nd consecutive All-Star appearance. The only season James was not an All-Star was his rookie year in 2003-04.

The Lakers will face off against the San Antonio Spurs in the second night of a back-to-back and it’s not yet certain who will be available. James has played in back-to-backs in recent months after sitting out the second game of the stretch earlier in the season.

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