MIAMI — As Heat guard Tyler Herro went nuclear, hitting seven straight 3-pointers in the third quarter of a 134-93 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday, it dawned on L.A. coach JJ Redick just how lost his team has become.
“We’re having trouble right now on both ends with, like, base-level game-plan stuff,” Redick said after the Lakers lost for the sixth time in the past eight games. “It’s odd. It’s very odd.”
Odder still is how a team that was 10-4 just two weeks ago, with a chance to make it 11-4 if it only hit some late free throws against the Orlando Magic, is suddenly in free fall, losing those six games by an average of 21.8 points.
“Has to be some ownership,” Redick said. “You can splinter, and it’s easy to not want the ownership, particularly when it’s embarrassing. I’m embarrassed. We’re all embarrassed. It’s not a game that I thought we had the right fight, the right professionalism.”
Redick added: “There has to be some ownership on the court and I’ll take all the ownership in the world. This is my team and I lead it and I’m embarrassed. But I can’t physically get us organized. I can’t physically be into the basketball. I can’t physically talk and call out [switches] and physically call out coverages. … And by the way, I’m not blaming players. It’s not. I own this, but going to need some ownership on the court as well. … There’s not a sense from me that we’re together right now.”
LeBron James bounced back from a shooting slump to score 29 points on 12-for-18 shooting, including 1-of-4 from 3-point range to break a streak of 20 straight missed 3s. But he did not quibble with Redick’s remarks.
“I agree with everything JJ said,” James said, making it clear he would not come off as unaligned with the first-year coach. “Whatever he said, I agree 100 percent, 1,000 percent.”
James did, however, absolve Redick in his role in Wednesday’s debacle, saying, “It’s not on the coaches. It’s definitely on us, for sure.”
The Lakers were outrebounded 52-36 as Miami tied a franchise record for 3s in a regular-season game by going 24-for-47, including 9-for-16 from Herro, who finished with a team-high 31 points. Meanwhile, the Lakers went 5-for-22 (22.7%) from deep.
Anthony Davis, who not too long ago was considered an early-season MVP candidate, volunteered for the lion’s share of the blame after scoring a season-low eight points on 3-for-14 shooting. This after Davis had previously set his season low with 12 points Monday, going 4-for-14 from the field in a 29-point loss against Minnesota.
“I have the utmost confidence in this group and this coaching staff,” Davis said. “I personally just think it starts with me. If I play better, then guys play better. I definitely take accountability, especially the last couple of games. Just not being there for the team on the offensive end.”
Lakers guard Gabe Vincent had nine points and three steals off the bench but was still part of a Lakers second unit that was outscored 51-28 by Miami’s reserves. He characterized his team’s mood as “upset.”
“I think we’re definitely far off from where we want to be and where we expect to be this time of the year,” Vincent said.
James, who is the oldest player in the NBA and will turn 40 on Dec. 30, preached patience even while admitting, “It sucks for sure to get your ass whooped like that twice in a row.”
Moving forward, he urged the Lakers to “stay even-keeled,” adding, “I’ve been in this game way too long. Never get too high, never get too low. Because I know how fast this s— turns.”
Davis aimed for the turnaround to begin when the Lakers conclude their four-game trip Friday against an Atlanta Hawks team riding a five-game winning streak.
“Just got to find a way, to be honest,” Davis said. “Find a way in Atlanta to get the dub.”
