JJ Redick singles out Los Angeles’ LeBron James mistake in Thunder loss

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles LakersThe three-game winning streak was snapped after their 119-110 loss to the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night, a game in which the Thunder were without All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. It was a game the Lakers were in until the end of the fourth quarter, and it was from the head coach JJ RedickAppearance point, the team did not reach the ball LeBron James enough.

After the Lakers’ loss to the Thunder, JJ Redick explained how LeBron James has consistently taken advantage from smaller Thunder defenders orchestrating the offense, and that he needed to touch the ball more during the final period.

“I didn’t think we did a good job getting the ball to LeBron,” Redick said. “Some of it we called plays and we didn’t execute, some of it just wasn’t recognized. His plays against smaller players is how we got back into 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 game-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 start and finished putting Chet Holmgren on the poster not once, but twice in the game. When going up against the defending champions, James admitted the Lakers weren’t there because of their incompetence to last a full 48 minutes.

This season, James has appeared in 34 games with just over 33 minutes per game. He averaged 21.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.1 steals while shooting 50.1 percent from the field, 31.4 percent from the 3-point line and 74.5 percent from the free throw line.

He is in the midst of a historic 23rd NBA season 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 the San Antonio Spurs for the second night of back-to-back games and it is not yet certain who will be available. James has played back-to-back in recent months after going down for the second game in a row earlier in the season.