JJ Redick challenges the Lakers’ leadership and they respond by defeating the Heat

JJ Redick did it Wednesday morning and reminded his of it Lakers the importance of connection and communication.

He told them again at the arena, his team about to take on the Miami Heat and their streaky scorer Tyler Herro, who is in the midst of a dominant run.

And it just didn’t take.

Herro, just like he did when the Heat blew out the Lakers in Miamiwas too open, too often, ripping shot after shot through the net — the kind of stretch that led his coach to recently compare him to Stephen Curry. The Lakers were lost on defense. It rendered them lifeless on the attack.

At the break they were very down.

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So for at least the third time Wednesday, Redick told his players what he needed from them. They were supposed to talk about defense. They had to defend together. And if they didn’t, they were almost certain to face their fourth straight defeat.

“There was nothing we changed schematically,” he said. “I told our team to talk more and play harder.”

And finally it sunk in.

“That was just the message we needed,” guard Austin Reaves said. “And I think, most importantly, it came through to the group.”

The Lakers swarmed on defense, diving for loose balls and forcing turnovers. They shared the ball on offense against Miami’s zone, dissecting it with precision cutting and zipping passes. And when it came time to close out the Heat, the Lakers leaned on LeBron James for the finishing touches a 117-108 win, their first since January 3rd.

With the team in the third quarter, Anthony Davis dived for a loose ball. Reaves triggered a fast break. Rui Hachimura attacked the paint and James finished with an open three — the kind of play that showed Redick that all the stress he’d put in all day had caught on.

“I challenged the team across the board today at our leadership meeting,” he said. “And leadership — people think of speaking up, obviously being vocal, talking up the shelves, whatever it may be. It’s certainly a form of leadership. But leadership takes many forms. And I think that speaking up is a requirement for the job as a basketball player Talking is a requirement for the job.

“But leadership can be playing hard defensively. Leadership can be taking responsibility. Leadership can be taking care of the basketball. It’s about leadership and ownership of what you have to do. That’s your job. That’s leadership to me . And that’s a good example for me of leadership from AD – being the first on the floor in a close game. It’s a momentum-swinging game for us.”

The Lakers outscored Miami 63-42 in the second half after being blown out by San Antonio in the third and fourth quarters on Monday night.

In many ways, Wednesday’s win was a sign of growth, the Lakers took responsibility for the things they hadn’t done, got balanced production from multiple players and won because they didn’t ignore the little things.

Hachimura led the Lakers with 23 points. James, who scored seven straight points down the stretch, had 22 and nine assists. Davis finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks.

Max Christie scored 16 and Reaves had 14 points, 14 assists and three steals.

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“Whether we’re up or down, we can’t be frontrunners,” Davis said. “And when we’re up, that’s just where we’re connected. Even when we’re down, that’s when we need to be most connected. I think tonight, even in the second quarter when they went on that trip, we were still able to be connected. We got to halftime, made adjustments, stuck together and were able to go out in the second half and get the shutout.”

Gabe Vincent got the Lakers going with 14 points off the bench against his former team, and Jaxson Hayes had his best game since returning from an ankle injury on Jan. 2.

And while Redick’s message may have landed Wednesday, it was the players’ execution against the Heat that got the Lakers (21-17) a much-needed win.

“There’s power in the group and there’s power in being connected,” Redick said. “And there’s a lot of things that go wrong in every basketball game and you have to stay connected. And I thought we did a great job of that tonight.

“Our coaching staff, all of them, they did a great job. But it was our players tonight. I kind of have to give them credit. They stayed the course. They stayed connected. They showed determination. That was them tonight.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.