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Despite an undermanned roster, Lakers coach JJ Redick gave forward Jarred Vanderbilt a quick hook in Tuesday's game. Gary A. Vasquez / Imagn Images
LOS ANGELES — Following his team’s third-straight loss and second in a row without stars Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, Lakers coach JJ Redick said he’s searching for nine players on his roster willing to be “all in” on the team.
The comments came after the Lakers lost 123-87 to the Oklahoma City Thunder Tuesday night, with an even more undermanned roster than the one they had in a loss in Dallas on Sunday.
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Less than one full possession into the second quarter, Redick called timeout to take veteran forward Jarred Vanderbilt out of the game. Vanderbilt confronted Redick on the court during his coach’s huddle and needed to be restrained by Reaves. Vanderbilt and Redick later had another interaction on the bench.
He didn’t return to the game and logged less than five minutes, the only player on the Lakers active roster to play fewer than 11 minutes in the loss. While Vanderbilt missed three straight free throws after being fouled in final second of the first quarter, Redick said it was a “confluence” of things that led to the benching.
“It’s, you know, nothing personal with him. Normal stuff from my end,” Redick said. “I think for all of us, you know, being undermanned, we’ve got to scrap and claw, we’ve got to all be on the same page, we got to be great teammates, we got to all play hard. Called a timeout to get him out of the game. And he reacted, but again, normal interaction for me.”
In addition to Dončić and Reaves not playing Tuesday, the Lakers didn’t have LeBron James, who they ruled out for injury management reasons earlier in the day. The Lakers also later ruled out Jaxson Hayes with foot soreness, and Marcus Smart missed the game, too, as he continues to recover from an ankle injury suffered more than two weeks ago.
Redick said Smart was trending toward playing for the Lakers this week.
Vanderbilt wasn’t the only Lakers player to get a quick reaction from Redick. He subbed Rui Hachimura out for seldom-used rookie Adou Thiero less than three minutes into the first quarter because he “didn’t do his job.”
Hachimura did return to the game, though, and led the Lakers with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting. He declined to speak to reporters after the game and Vanderbilt left before the locker room opened.
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After the game, Redick said it can’t be the Lakers’ mindset to just try to stay afloat as they eke closer to the postseason. Following a month in which they went 15-2 and moved into the contender conversation, the Lakers are now reeling.
“We’ve got to find nine guys that are are like, all in on us fighting and willing to go out on whatever metaphor you want to use — I don’t want to use a war metaphor in this time — but whatever you got to do to go out and fight and be all in on the team,” Redick said. “We’ll find the nine guys. It’s a great opportunity for us over the next three games to find those guys.”
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Dan Woike covers the Los Angeles Lakers for The Athletic. He’s written about professional basketball in Los Angeles since 2011, first for the Orange County Register and most recently for the Los Angeles Times. His work has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors, the Pro Basketball Writers Association, the Los Angeles Press Club and the California News Publishers Association. He’s originally from Chicago. Follow Dan on Twitter @DanWoikeSports
