PHOENIX — As Los Angeles Lakers Coach JJ Redick reflects on his team’s 109-105 loss Phoenix SunsHe started to become increasingly uneasy.

After answering his first question about where things went wrong for the Lakers, who started the game with a 26-8 lead and appeared to be on the verge of a 4-0 start to the season for most of the night, Redick put down the microphone. at the podium and looked away for a few seconds.

He needed a minute. It was boiling.

With the next question—“fire,” a continuation of a schematic term Redick had used in his first answer—which was another word for attacking a ball-handler defensively—Redick could only nod in confirmation of the answer.

He was visibly tortured after the first official loss of his coaching career. And his players loved it.

“He threw in a nice little F-word, which shows how much he cares,” Austin Reaves said of Redick’s postgame locker room message. “His passion is on another level. You can tell every second of every day that he is committed to the betterment of our group.”

Discussing what it’s like to be interviewed Devin Booker Redick on the “Old Man and Three” podcastHe is a very private person who is “obsessed” about everything in his life. While it wasn’t obvious at the press conference, it was clearly visible on the sidelines where Redick was frequently running offensive sets and defensive coverages, or manically pacing and swearing under his breath (and sometimes loudly). There is no off switch for the 40-year-old first-time coach.

Redick’s manic approach was one of the driving forces that led the Lakers to acquire him to replace Darwin Ham. According to many players, including the most important voices in the locker room LeBron James And Anthony DavisRedick apologized to the team after the game for what he believed were two mistakes and brought up the same mistakes in his postgame press conference.

“If there’s anything to blame, it’s probably me,” Redick said.

He believed the Lakers could go “fire” against him Kevin Durant One or two positions earlier at the critical time. Durant (30 points) and Booker (33) torched the Lakers’ perimeter defense, often targeting the smallest defender. Gabe Vincent or D’Angelo Russelland shooting only over that player. Phoenix used this strategy to defeat Los Angeles 16-11 in the last 5:09 of the game.

“I got to go watch, but in some ways I felt like we lost the ability of Kevin Durant and Booker to make tough 2s,” Redick said.

He also blamed himself for the Lakers’ 14-point second quarter giving the Suns a two-point lead at halftime. Davis, who scored 16 points in the first quarter, scored only two points in the second quarter; The Lakers’ offense has been hampered by weak rosters on the bench.

“I have to make sure the offense is good,” Redick said. “I felt like it was a bit random. “We lingered.”

One of the odd aspects of the match that cannot be blamed was James’ uncharacteristic character of the night. James finished the game with 11 points, barely keeping alive his streak of 1,226 consecutive games of double-digit scoring. The night, when he shot 3 of 14 (21.4%), was his worst performance since October 31, 2007 (almost 17 years ago).

James was oddly passive in the stretches and lacked their typical explosiveness and enthusiasm. Redick later defended his superstar’s shot selection.

“We missed a lot of 2-downs,” Redick said. “And for him, those are the shots he made. He missed on the left side in the fourth. I missed a couple of those one-legged ones right in the middle of the paint.”

James, whose voice was hoarse and nasally and sniffled at a press conference in front of his locker, was asked how long he had been dealing with his symptoms. He said he’s been feeling bad since Friday, which means he’s been dealing with the illness that spread through the team and forced the second-year guard out. Jalen Hood-Schifino missing two games last week – even up to three games.

This defeat overshadowed some bright spots for the Lakers. Their opening 26-8 run in the first 6:50 of the game was arguably the most dominant run they’ve seen on both ends of the court this season. Davis dominated the paint on both ends, in fact he was playing Yusuf Nurkic from the ground. Rui Hachimura He went after Durant and blocked a shot. Reaves jumped in 3 seconds. James didn’t attempt a single shot and the Lakers built a nearly 20-point lead.

Davis opened the season with 29 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks, finishing the season with 30 points for almost the fourth consecutive year. Had he done so, he would have been the only Lakers player, along with Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Kobe Bryant, to score at least 30 points in the first four games of the season. Davis earned Western Conference Player of the Week honors in the first week of the season and is off to his best start with the Lakers.

Hachimura recorded his first double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds. He has now scored 18 or more points in three of four games and grabbed seven or more rebounds in three of four games. He became a reliable safety valve on offense, knocking down open threes, attacking the basket with force, and cutting open space along the baseline. Additionally, Durant handled his assignment pretty well; This is an improvement over where Hachimura was defensively earlier in his career.

YES RUI pic.twitter.com/YdpRKEPsYp

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) 29 October 2024

Reaves had 23 points and 8 rebounds and played pick-and-roll with Davis. He grabbed at least seven rebounds in three games and defended his opponent’s best backcourt scorer. Anthony EdwardsBooker twice and De’Aaron Fox – and kept them in relative control. According to NBA.com’s tracking data, these three stars managed to shoot 9-of-25 (36%) with Reaves as the primary defender.

“I feel comfortable in the system where they basically ask me to be myself,” Reaves said. “And when you get into the system of feeling comfortable with everything in life, you will be better at what you do.”

It’s encouraging that the Lakers had so much going wrong — James having a historically bad shooting night, the bench scoring eight points on 3-of-10 shooting — but still being in a one-possession game with seconds remaining. They came close to the 4-0 score by a very narrow margin.

But it’s not like that NBA it works. A loss after such an impressive opening week was a sobering reminder that the Lakers are still far from the team they want to be.

“No one in history has ever gone 82-0,” Davis said. “We don’t expect to lose but we are realistic and realistic. … “For us, our mentality all year was to never lose twice in a row.”

This goal, similar to the stated goals of the 2019-20 championship team, starts at the top with a coach suffering the pain of losing and feeling like he is falling short of his group.

Required Reading

(Photo of JJ Redick and Gabe Vincent: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)