Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick felt obligated to play the role of the Grinch following Thursday night’s 119-96 Christmas Day loss to the Houston Rockets.
Lakers Suffer Third Straight Loss
The Rockets, who never trailed in Thursday’s game, had six players finish with double-digit scoring figures. Amen Thompson scored a game-high 26 points, while Kevin Durant put up 25.
Redick couldn’t help but rip his own team after the Lakers’ third straight defeat and their sixth in the past 10 games. The loss also dropped the Purple and Gold to 2½ games behind the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference.
JJ Redick went scorched earth on the Lakers postgame. pic.twitter.com/ZLuOKyqMBQ
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) December 26, 2025
“We don’t care enough right now,” Redick said. “And that’s the part that bothers you a lot. We don’t care enough to do the things that are necessary. We don’t care enough to be a professional.”
Redick intends to address his team’s struggles before Sunday’s home game against the Sacramento Kings.
“Saturday’s practice — I told the guys — it’s going to be uncomfortable,” Redick said. “The meeting is going to be uncomfortable. I’m not doing another 53 games like this.”
JJ Redick Demands Improvement
The Rockets jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first quarter and were never in danger of losing the game. They led by double digits for the entire second half.
“The two words of the day were effort and execution,” Redick said. “And I feel like when we’ve done both of those things at a high level, we’ve been a good basketball team. When we haven’t, we’re a terrible basketball team. And tonight, we were a terrible basketball team. And that started legitimately right away.”
Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 25 points and seven assists, but he also had a team-worst six turnovers. He turned the ball over three times in the first 2:11 of playing time.
“I don’t know what has to change, but definitely something needs to change,” Doncic said. “Think we [were] blown out the last three games. It definitely looks, like, terrible. We got to figure out, that’s the thing we have [to do]. … We just got to talk about it.
“Everybody got to talk about it. I know JJ said it’s going to be uncomfortable [for everybody]. As they should be. Everybody has got to give better effort, starting with me.”
All 10 of the Lakers’ losses this season have been by 10 or more points.
