JJ Redick was pleased with Lakers defense against Celtics

While their offense escaped them for a large stretch of the game, the Lakers defense impressed head coach JJ Redick.

Arguably the biggest takeaway from Saturday’s game against the Celtics was how much the offense disappeared in the second half. For nearly the entirety of the third quarter, the Lakers looked lost and rudderless even with LeBron James and Luka Dončić on the floor.

However, as much as the offense struggled, the Lakers found success on the other end. Matched up with one of the best offenses in the league and down two starters, they held their own and gave the team a chance once they finally found their footing again offensively.

After the game, head coach JJ Redick spoke about his team’s performance on that end.

“Frankly, I thought we defended well tonight,” Redick said. “Missing Jaxson [Hayes] and not being able to have him roam off of [Jrue] Holiday I think hurt a little bit with rim protection. But we forced them into a lot of off-the-dribble jumpers after the first quarter. We wanted to limit their threes. They shot 38 threes. They average 48. I mean, [Jayson] Tatum and [Jaylen] Brown, for those guys, they played 42 minutes and 46 minutes and both took over 25 shots, we executed well defensively on a lot of things.

“We can clean some stuff up. We cleaned some stuff in-game. I thought our guys responded well and we were able to get some stops and get back in the game.”

While the defense has been playing well for an extended stretch now, this was likely their toughest test for the remainder of the season in many regards.

On top of being down multiple rotation players, the Celtics have long established themselves for their elite offense. And while they were down a starter as well in Kristaps Porziņģis, the Lakers found success.

As Redick noted, they limited their 3-pointers and forced them into midrange shots. Boston shot 7-17 on those jumpers on top of taking fewer threes than normal.

Individually, while Jaylen Brown had an efficient night, Jayson Tatum did not, finishing 12-28 from the field, including 1-6 in the fourth quarter.

It wasn’t a perfect night on that end from the purple and gold, but considering the circumstances, it was a solid showing. At the end of the day, even just an average offensive showing during the third would have had them in the game late instead of needing to rally from down big.

Moral victories count for next to nothing, especially in early March, but the Lakers can come away from this game feeling good about how their defense largely held up.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.