The Lakers’ rematch with the Clippers came with a major catch: Luka Doncic and Ziaire Williams were both scratched hours before tip-off, and head coach JJ Redick said the decision was about caution more than alarm.
Los Angeles entered the night coming off its first loss of the season and trying to bounce back against the same Clippers team it had beaten at home last week. This time, though, the Lakers were down two starters, with Doncic out because of back tightness and Williams sidelined by left foot soreness.
Redick addressed the absences before the game and said the team was simply trying to manage two players dealing with day-of-game discomfort.
“There was some soreness and tightness today; tightness for Luka, soreness for Ziaire,” said Redick. “We have a tough stretch of games, and not a lot of time in between. Just being overly cautious.”
For Lakers fans, the timing made the news sting a little more. Early in the season, there’s an expectation that the top guys will be out there, and Doncic’s absence naturally raised eyebrows. But the Lakers appear to be thinking long term, even if that means sacrificing a game they had reason to like on paper.
The encouraging sign is that both players are expected back for Friday’s matchup with the Warriors. Their absences tonight sound precautionary, tied to the sort of load management approach that teams lean on when the schedule starts squeezing games together.
Redick also made it clear that the bigger task isn’t simply surviving a night without two starters. It’s getting a new group to settle in and clean up the details on defense.
“It’s a new group, and we have a lot of guys that are playing a lot of minutes,” Redick added. “Maybe our schemes and our language are a little different; I just don’t think those last two games we’ve played our defense.
We have a lot of capable defenders, and I’m confident we will get there on that end of the court. It hasn’t been good the last two games, and a lot of it is game plan mistakes, and a lot of it is just discipline.”
That message fits a league that has already taken a hit from injuries across the board. In the first few weeks alone, Tyrese Haliburton, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Edwards, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jalen Williams have all gone down with injuries that will keep them out for weeks at minimum.
The Lakers are clearly trying to stay ahead of that kind of fallout. Doncic, who is already carrying a heavy load, is too important to push through back tightness if the team can avoid it. And with his numbers - 36.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game on 48.4% shooting from the field - he’s giving them every reason to protect the asset they have right now.
So even with the setback against the Clippers, Redick isn’t second-guessing the call. He believes the Lakers have enough to keep things afloat until the rest of the rotation is back in place.
In Other News...
Lakers Have A Bigger Problem Than Luka Can Fix Alone
Luka Doncic delivered a 41-point night, but it still wasnt enough to carry the Lakers past Portland in a 136-129 loss that exposed how much more this team needs than one elite scorer. Los Angeles had plenty of offense and enough firepower to stay in the game, yet the bigger issue showed up on the other end, where Portland kept finding efficient looks and controlled the possession battle with its edge at the line.
The Trail Blazers didnt just ride hot shooting from deep, they also did damage inside, outscoring the Lakers from beyond the arc and in the paint. For a team built to compete now, that kind of defensive breakdown is the more troubling takeaway, because even a special performance from Doncic can only cover for so much if the Lakers keep giving away points in bunches. [Read more 🡒]
Lakers Fans Will Notice Ziaire Williams Is Not Changing His Edge
Ziaire Williams picked up a $2,000 fine from the NBA for flopping in a game against the Utah Jazz, but the Lakers forward did not sound like someone ready to back off his style anytime soon. Williams said he disagreed with the leagues ruling, though he also made it clear he will pay the fine and keep playing with the same edge on defense.
Williams also said he plans to appeal in hopes of getting the money back, which leaves the episode feeling more like a brief detour than a change in approach. For the Lakers, the bigger takeaway is probably the one Williams himself emphasized: whatever the league thought of that call, his commitment to being disruptive on that end of the floor is not going anywhere. [Read more 🡒]
Lakers Loss To Portland Turned On A Late Whistle Fans Will Debate
A late-season whistle can change the feel of a game in a hurry, and that was the case at Crypto.com Arena when officials handed out technical fouls for flopping in the fourth quarter. Ja Morant, Toumani Camara and Ziaire Williams were all hit with the same call in a tense finish, turning a close stretch into the kind of ending fans and players are likely to replay for a while.
Morant took issue with his own call afterward, saying he had simply raised his hands and absorbed contact, and he planned to try to get it overturned. Portland left with the win and moved to 3-0, while the Lakers dropped to 3-1, a result that will leave plenty of attention on the sequence rather than just the final score. [Read more 🡒]