The Los Angeles Lakers had a really frustrating night on Tuesday. They lost big to the Detroit Pistons, 128-106. And it seems like head coach JJ Redick wasn’t happy with the officiating. He felt the refs let the Pistons foul way too much. Star player Luka Doncic pretty much agreed. He said the Lakers needed to be more physical themselves. It was just a tough night all around for L.A.
Redick’s Warning Before the Game
Coach Redick actually saw this coming. He told reporters before the game what to expect. He said the Pistons would foul on “every possession, probably three or four times.” He wasn’t even saying it in a negative way.
But he knew the officials wouldn’t call every single one. That’s just how Detroit plays, you know? They are really aggressive. And Redick felt that’s exactly what happened during the game. It led to a lot of frustration for his team. The Pistons forced 21 turnovers, which turned into 30 points for them. That’s a huge number.
“I think there’s probably a level of frustration when you’re turning the ball over and you’re feeling like you’re getting fouled,” Redick said. “There’s frustration there, for sure. But I mean, again, I said it even here, we said it this morning: They’re going to foul every possession. It’s just, you got to play through it.”
The numbers were kind of interesting too. Detroit was called for 26 fouls. The Lakers shot 31 free throws. L.A. got 24 fouls called against them. And the Pistons shot 29 free throws. So the foul count wasn’t wildly different, but it’s more about what wasn’t called. Redick’s team felt that a lot of contact went unpunished. You can read more about Redick’s comments on ESPN’s report.
Doncic Wants More Physicality
Luka Doncic had a tough game himself. He had a team-worst eight turnovers. But he wasn’t shy about what the Lakers needed to do. He felt the team needed to match Detroit’s intensity. If the refs weren’t calling fouls, then L.A. needed to play harder. It’s a pretty clear message from your star player. Luka scored 30 points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out 11 assists, as noted in his player news on ESPN, but those turnovers hurt.
“We’ve got to definitely match their physicality,” Doncic said. “That’s the whole point. We got to match how they play. You saw the refs let it go, so we should play [with] physicality, for sure.”
The game was definitely physical. Lakers guard Marcus Smart took a shot to the face early on. Pistons forward Duncan Robinson hit him. Smart got a technical foul for arguing. He was pretty mad it wasn’t a flagrant foul. Later, Jake LaRavia got elbowed in the head. Detroit’s Jalen Duren did it. It got upgraded to a Flagrant 1 after a review.
Doncic even got a technical in the third quarter. He was called for “flailing” after hitting Ronald Holland II in the face. It was just one of those games, you know? Even late in the fourth, Smart was yelling at an official. He felt like the missed calls just kept happening.
LeBron’s Birthday Loss and Team Woes
It was LeBron James’ 41st birthday. Not exactly the celebration he wanted. He scored 17 points but shot 6-for-17. He also had five turnovers. LeBron didn’t want to talk about the officiating. He said it wasn’t his place. That’s a pretty standard veteran response.
He did talk about the Lakers’ overall situation, though. It was their fourth loss in five games. And this loss dropped them to 20-11 for the season. All 11 losses have been by double digits. Six of those were by 20 points or more. It’s not a great trend. You can see the game highlights on ESPN Philippines.
“We haven’t had a full team all year,” James said. “We got some very important guys out right now. And obviously I started the year being out. And having our All-Star, 2-guard [Austin Reaves] out, and Rui [Hachimura] is now out. And Gabe [Vincent has] been out for a minute. Jaxson [Hayes] just came back. There’s been a lot of in and out. So that’s very hard to get a rhythm of chemistry on the floor with guys that you know you’re going to play with every night. … But still no excuse. We still got to go out and execute. … The better team tonight won.”
LeBron highlighted the injury problems. Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and Gabe Vincent are all out. Jaxson Hayes just got back. It’s tough to build chemistry when players are constantly in and out. But he still said there’s “no excuse.” The Lakers just have to execute better. And on Tuesday, the Pistons were definitely the better team. Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 27 points and 11 assists. It was a tough ending to the year for L.A. They really need to figure some things out.
Tanya Singh 
Soureesh Datta