Lakers’ JJ Redick wants more ‘thrust and pace’ offensively ...Middle East

For JJ Redick, the film from the Lakers’ Game 2 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday in Los Angeles as part of their best-of-seven first-round series confirmed what was felt in real time.

The Lakers’ coach saw his team have as good of a defensive performance as he felt they did in real-time, contributing to the Lakers holding the Timberwolves to 85 points as part of their nine-point win – Minnesota’s lowest scoring total in a game this season.

When watching the film, Redick also saw an offensive performance that wasn’t very good despite the Lakers creating more open shots.

“We were more organized,” Redick said during a conference call with reporters Thursday morning. “But the biggest thing for us is we have to find ways to create a little bit more thrust and pace. That’s probably the biggest thing. And we’ll continue to fine-tune that.”

Pace, in terms of the amount of possessions in a game, usually goes down during the playoffs.

And the first two games of the Lakers-Timberwolves series haven’t been any different.

The series has an average of 88 possessions per game, which is second to last among the eight first-round series ahead of Boston-Orlando (87.75), entering Friday’s Game 3 matchup at Target Center in Minneapolis.

The Lakers (20th) and Timberwolves (25th) ranked in the bottom 10 in pace across the league during the regular season.

The Lakers were 25th in the amount of time (12.5 seconds) they averaged before taking a shot during the regular season.

That’s increased to 13 seconds during the playoffs.

The Lakers, who averaged 13.3 fastbreak points in their 32 games after Luka Doncic’s debut Feb. 10, scored six fastbreak points in Game 1 and 13 in Game 2.

“Some of it is, are they getting back? Are they allowing or not allowing our throw-ahead passes?  That’s out of your control,” Redick responded when asked whether pace is a controllable factor. “But getting down the court, having more of a 0.5 [seconds] mentality, using some of our [switching] attack stuff that we’ve worked on all season, that’s the stuff we can control.”

The Lakers’ lack of pace is impacted by the Timberwolves, who ranked sixth in defensive rating (110.8) during the regular season.

They’ve been consistent with targeting Minnesota center Rudy Gobert, a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, after he’s switched onto one of the Lakers’ main ball handlers, which has produced good results at times but also seemingly taken the team out of rhythm.

Redick addressed the balance of attacking Gobert in space versus probing more and attacking Minnesota in different ways after switches.

“It’s probably a little bit more layered than just let’s go to the next action,” Redick said. “He’s done a nice job at times. He’s really big and he’s done a nice job at times of moving his feet. So we got to be able to do both.”

HACHIMURA UPDATE

Redick said Rui Hachimura will wear a mask as a precaution after getting hit in the face during Game 2, adding that the Lakers’ starting forward is fine and will be available for Game 3.

Hachimura left the game in the first quarter after his shot to the face left him bloodied, going back to the locker room and returning to the Lakers’ bench in the second period with a clear mask, which didn’t stay on his face for long when he re-entered the game. He played the second half in a black mask.

GAME 3: LAKERS AT TIMBERWOLVES

What: NBA Western Conference first round

When: 6:30 p.m. PT Friday

Where: Target Center, Minneapolis

TV/radio: ESPN, Spectrum SportsNet/710 AM

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