JJ Redick did not think the Lakers brought the right mentality to Saturday’s loss vs. Bulls

After an inexplicable loss to the Bulls on Saturday, head coach JJ Redick said the Lakers didn’t bring the right mentality to the game.

Considering all the circumstances heading into the night, Saturday’s loss to the Bulls will almost assuredly go down as the most inexplicable of the season.

Welcoming back a whole host of players — including LeBron James and Rui Hachimura from extended absences — and playing against a below-average Bulls team sure seemed a recipe for success. Instead, from the opening jump, the Bulls were the aggressor while the Lakers looked overwhelmed and flat-footed all night long.

The result was what will almost certainly be the worst loss of the season as the Lakers allowed nearly 150 points.

After the game, head coach JJ Redick was about as confounded as everyone else, though he did say the team didn’t bring the right mentality from the jump.

“You can certainly get into the technicality of it and you can certainly get into the turnovers for us offensively and how that kind of destroyed our rhythm,” Redick said, “but the disposition and the mentality. I don’t know if we assumed because we had everybody back that it was just going to be like it was three weeks ago and that’s just not the way this works. I think the guys know that and I’m not saying that’s what they assumed. You have to ask them that.”

The Lakers did not look like a team clicking on all cylinders, and perhaps predictably so. While returning to full strength is a positive, it requires a recalibration for the team, especially with a player like LeBron. The Lakers did not look like the cohesive unit they had largely been during this homestand — sans the Bucks game when they were severely shorthanded — and things never got better as the game wore on.

Fortunately, you can write off one game. And given the way the Lakers have been playing the last month, giving them grace, as Redick put it postgame, is easier to do.

At the same time, the season is winding down and this has to be a one-game blip, not a trend for the team, if they want to maximize their seeding for the playoffs.

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