The Los Angeles Lakers made it seven wins in a row by defeating the New Orleans Pelicans 133-121 at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday. The Lakers led by as many as 26 points against the Pelicans and have now improved to 15-4 in this 2025-26 season.
The Lakers did take their foot off the gas in the second half, though, and head coach JJ Redick wasn’t happy with everything that he saw from his team on the night. Redick made it clear in his postgame press conference that, despite this great record, his team has a lot of room for improvement.
“I think sometimes you get a lead like that, and you can—I hate saying this—but teams can get a little bored,” Redick said. “And that’s what we’re trying to get away from. Is just continuing to be a process team, and didn’t think we were great with that tonight.
“I didn’t think our defense was good for the last three quarters,” Redick continued. “It’s nice to sit here and be 15-4 and be like, ‘Oh, the results are great.’ And we should be proud of being 15-4 after 19 games. It’s a great start. There’s a lot of slices of pizza left in the box that we can still get after. There’s a lot of room for improvement for our team. Which to me is a positive.”
The Lakers’ offense continues to be a big positive night in and night out. They put up 46 points in the first quarter, even with LeBron James being out, and have now recorded over 130 points in three of their last five games. Teams have had no answer for this offense that has been led ever so well by Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
Doncic racked up 34 points (9-22 FG), 12 rebounds, seven assists, one steal, and one block against the Pelicans. Reaves impressed as well, with 33 points (9-15 FG), five rebounds, eight assists, one steal, and one block.
While all is well on offense, the Lakers continue to struggle to slow down their opponents. The Pelicans shot 50.5% from the field, and this has been somewhat of a theme so far.
The Lakers have seen their opponents shoot 49.1% from the field this season. Only the Pelicans, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, and Charlotte Hornets have allowed a higher percentage. That’s not the company you want to keep, and this is not a recipe for success.
“There’s a lot of things that I really like about our basketball team,” Redick stated. “It’s okay 19 games in to say, ‘Hey, we’re not where we want to be.’ Like, that’s okay. That doesn’t take away from anything we’ve done or anything that any individuals have done so far this season. So we have to just continue again tomorrow. Something’s going to happen, we got to get better from it.
“Our defense has to get better, and I thought we’ve had some good stretches,” Redick added. “I didn’t like a lot of tonight on that end.”
It will be interesting to see how much better the Lakers can get on that end of the floor as the season goes on. They will be in action next against the Phoenix Suns at Crypto.com Arena on Monday at 10 PM ET.
