In his head coaching debut Tuesday evening, JJ Redick officially became the winningest coach in NBA history.
The Lakers surprised most people by beating the Minnesota Timberwolves by a score of 110-103. The Lakers virtually led for the entire game. Anthony Davis led the way with 36 points, 16 rebounds, and three blocks. Rui Hachimura chipped in with 18 points in the winning effort.
While it’s still far too early to make any real conclusions on Reddick and his coaching ability, the Lakers did appear to play much harder in this game comparatively speaking to the Darvin Ham era. The offense also was far more ball movement-centric rather than the rampant isolating of Davis and LeBron James.
There was a concerted effort to get shooters open for good looks. The same applied to Davis, as he feasted on more than a handful of called plays by Redick. The defensive end of the floor also proved to be a major success. LA held Anthony Edwards to only 10-of-25 shooting. In the same breath, Julius Randle scored only 16 points in 34 minutes.
During the TNT broadcast, we got a glimpse into an animated and intense Redick — barking out orders and offering positivity in huddles. It was a far cry from what we saw last year with Ham, who often stood with his hands in his pockets searching for answers somewhere (that rarely came to fruition).
We can’t expect Davis to perform like this on a nightly basis. On a positive note, James and Austin Reaves had relatively quiet nights for their standards. Rookie Dalton Knecht flashed some upside, and he figures to get more and more minutes as the year progresses. Bronny James made his NBA debut, playing a quiet four minutes. With this spectacle out of the way, one would think Bronny is set to play heavy minutes in the G-League while the team relies on other veterans for production.
It feels as if this team is at least one bench player short. It’s quite possible Knecht could become that guy, and there’s also the possibility another big man is acquired to shore up further depth. Jarred Vanderbilt will be of service once recovering from his offseason surgery.
We’ll see what ultimately happens with this squad. While it may be premature to make sweeping declarations about this team, the Lakers appear to be operating with better coaching compared to last season.
