In the Warriors’ tactics in the first half, JJ Redick missed LeBron James

LOS ANGELES – When is Los Angeles Lakers opened the 2025-26 NBA season against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night, he was a big 6-foot-9 a hole in the lineup with LeBron James having been ruled out for at least four weeks with a nerve injury. Without James, The Lakers lost 119-109 for the Warriors and the head coach JJ Redick was left wishing he had his 40-year-old star on the field.

The Warriors began using a zone defense against the Lakers during the first half of the game, and JJ Redick bemoaned the fact that he didn’t have LeBron James to share the zone.

“It’s hard to forget about LeBron. The thing is, when you’re focused on the group you have, you’ve got to make the group work. Sometimes you can say, ‘Oh my God, we’re going to get LeBron back at some point, that’s great,'” Redick said after the loss. “But you’re focused. To be honest, I had one moment in the first half, a couple of possessions we couldn’t get against the zone, I was like, ‘it would be great to have LeBron throw it in the high post.’

without james Doncic led the Lakers against the Warriors, he finished with a career-high 43 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. He shot 17 of 27 from the field (63 percent) and 7 of 10 from the free throw line. But it wasn’t enough as the Warriors held off the Lakers’ rally to claim the win.

While Doncic took the offensive load in the Lakers’ season opener, Redick was quick to mention that he wasn’t worried about Doncic getting burned out from having to run the offense that way.

Every game is different,” Redick said. “I’m not worried about that.”

When James returns to the lineup, he will likely find himself alongside Doncic, Austin Reaves, DeAndre Ayton and Rui Hachimura as the Lakers’ starting lineup. While Redick made it clear that the starting lineup will be fluid and could change depending on matchups, the aforementioned group appears to be the regular lineup with a clean injury report.

Last season, James appeared in 70 games for the Lakers, averaging just over 34 minutes per game. He averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.0 steals while shooting 51.3 percent from the field, 37.6 percent from the three-point line and 78.2 percent from the free throw line.