Los Angeles Lakers star guard Luka Doncic and head coach JJ Redick told reporters after Tuesday night’s 128-106 home loss to the Detroit Pistons that the officiating seemed unfair and one-sided.
“I think there’s probably a level of frustration when you’re turning the ball over and you’re feeling like you’re getting fouled,” Redick said. “There’s frustration there, for sure. But I mean, again, I said it even here, we said it this morning: They’re going to foul every possession. It’s just, you got to play through it.”
Luka Doncic, JJ Redick Vow For Increased Physicality
Per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, Redick predicted Detroit’s strategy heading into Tuesday’s game.
“They’re going to foul on every possession, probably three or four times,” Redick said during a pregame interview. “And that’s not a knock, I’m not saying it in a negative way, but they’re going to foul three or four times on every possession. [And the officials are] not going to call a foul on every possession.”
The Pistons forced 21 turnovers and scored 30 points off of those turnovers. They were called for 26 fouls, and L.A. attempted 31 free throws. The Lakers were also called for 24 fouls, and Detroit shot 29 free throws.
“Building an identity is difficult.”
JJ Redick on tonight’s loss to the Pistons. pic.twitter.com/X1u52kepb6
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) December 31, 2025
“I think we were playing great basketball for 3 quarters, and then they just went on an insane run.”
Luka Dončić (30 PTS, 5 REB, 11 AST) talks to the media after the #Lakers lose to the Pistons, 128-106. pic.twitter.com/9FyPRX6jlm
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) December 31, 2025
While Doncic led all scorers with 30 points to go along with five rebounds and 11 assists in 35 minutes of action, he also committed a team-high eight turnovers in yet another disappointing loss.
Doncic believes the Lakers could have been more physical from start to finish.
“We’ve got to definitely match their physicality,” Doncic said. “That’s the whole point. We got to match how they play. You saw the refs let it go, so we should play [with] physicality, for sure.”
LeBron James, meanwhile, had 17 points on 6-for-17 (35.3%) shooting with four assists and five turnovers on his 41st birthday. The future Hall of Famer finished just 3-of-10 (30%) shooting from deep and 2-for-5 (40%) from the foul line.
Lakers Were Whistled For Multiple Violations
There were definitely a few questionable calls to go around.
During the first quarter, Pistons forward Duncan Robinson hit Lakers guard Marcus Smart in the face, but Smart was called for a technical foul for arguing with an official.
Smart wanted the call reviewed to determine whether it was a flagrant foul.
In the second quarter, Lakers forward Jake LaRavia took an elbow to the side of the head from Detroit big man Jalen Duren that was initially called a common foul and then upgraded to a Flagrant 1 upon review.
Then in the third quarter, Doncic was called for a technical foul for “flailing” after his arm hit Detroit’s Ronald Holland II in the face when the two got tangled up.
With their latest loss, the Lakers have now dropped four of their past five games, giving them a record of 20-11 on the season. L.A. sits fifth in the Western Conference, just 1½ games ahead of the seventh-place Phoenix Suns.
