Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick lauded Luka Doncic’s performance following Friday night’s 142-111 win over the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena. “I think it started just with the willingness to make the extra pass,” Redick said.
Redick highlighted Doncic’s aggression, noting, “I told you at halftime I thought the way Luka’s started the game was the perfect type of aggression, which was, you know, I’m going to hunt and try to create advantages, and he was very decisive with that.”
The Lakers built a commanding 77-48 halftime lead, fueled by Doncic’s first-half triple-double. Redick emphasized his decisiveness: “I do, you know, want to just reiterate just how decisive he was in everything he did, and really just bent the defense.”
On Deandre Ayton’s dominant night, Redick said, “We did a good job whether it was out of pick and roll, in the blitz getting him the ball at the front of the rim. We also did a really nice job when he did have a mismatch down there of finding him on some early seals.” Ayton finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds, shooting 12-of-14 from the field.
Redick also praised the team’s unselfish play, pointing out, “38 assists, 23 in the first half…we played 45 minutes of really, really good basketball and really unselfish team basketball.” He noted that sometimes two points could mean more than just points on the board, referencing the energy LeBron James provided: “The one we ran out of the timeout where DA threw it to him. That was very satisfactory to the eyes.”
Discussing Doncic’s offensive ceiling, Redick said, “It’s hard to describe because most of us can’t fathom being that good…some of the passes that, you know, there’s really like five guys that can make some of those passes because he has the size and the anticipation…Harden, Jokic, LeBron, and now Luka.”
LeBron’s highlights drew attention as well. “I enjoy good dunk shots. Yeah. It’s not I’m on to the next player. You really are like, damn…that one on Sarr, that one for sure popped, you know, that was unexpected,” Redick said.
Redick also addressed the team’s strategy to get Ayton early touches, saying, “We’re trying to create advantages to then allow him to get those shots at the rim…his touch shot is unbelievable. So, just a great job from him tonight.”
The Lakers improved to 29-18, while the Wizards fell to 12-35. Los Angeles will visit the New York Knicks on Sunday, and Washington returns home against Sacramento.
