The Los Angeles Lakers need to fix all their issues within the next week as the team is pushing for a top seed and playoff success. The second-half of the season flew by and the team now has eight games to finalize their style of play with Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves leading the offense.
Jovan Buha revealed that JJ Redick orchestrated a pre-game meeting between his three primary options to clean up the team's offense before their 127-134 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
“Redick called a meeting with the team’s three leaders — LeBron James, Luka Dončić, and Austin Reaves — Saturday morning in Memphis ahead of the final game of the Lakers’ four-game road trip. The goal…was to discuss ways to optimize the offense around their collective shot creation and playmaking skills.”
Their recent win over the Grizzlies were an almost-perfect representation of what the three could do together on the court. They combined for 85 points, 21 rebounds, and 25 assists, as Redick hailed the performance as the Lakers' best offensive night of the season.
Austin Reaves put up 31 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists, leading the trio in scoring. Luka Doncic had 29 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists while LeBron James put up 25 points, six rebounds, and eight assists.
Redick said after the game that he issued a challenge to all three of his offensive juggernauts, singling out Reaves and admiring how he responded under pressure.
"He (Reaves) got us off to a great start. We challenged him a little bit on playing with a little more force and pace off the ball. And I thought that was great early, and we were able to generate some good stuff."
"We challenged all three of them, when we get to their three-man action to play with a little more force and a little more thrust and a little more creativity. We were able to get some great stuff in the fourth quarter off that and create the sort of advantages that we envisioned creating when we put those three guys together".
One can make the inference that the meeting Buha is reporting about is the same one where Redick claims he gave these thoughts to the Lakers big three. An active coach keeping lines of communication open almost always leads to an improvement, as everyone understands each other clearly.
With a tricky set of remaining fixtures which is ranked as the second-hardest in the NBA, the Lakers will hope their chemistry stays strong so that they hold onto a competitive Playoff seed before hopefully making a run at the title.
