A furious JJ Redick said the absence of LeBron James was no excuse for the Los Angeles Lakers' defeat to the Brooklyn Nets, accusing his players of taking shortcuts.

The Lakers went down by a 111-108 scoreline at Barclays Center on Monday, suffering their second straight defeat after a run of eight consecutive wins.

Los Angeles led by as many as 15 points early on but were ultimately overpowered by the Nets, who ended a seven-game losing streak behind double-figure performances from five players.

It was the Lakers' first game since losing James to a groin injury, which is expected to keep him out for "weeks rather than days".

Starting center Jaxson Hayes, forward Rui Hachimura and reserve Dorian Finney-Smith also sat with injuries, but Redick felt the Lakers' attitude was what lost them the game.

"I think it was a very low-level communication game for our team," Redick said. "I don't think being short-handed is an excuse for how we played basketball tonight.

"I think it was just an overall mentality to take shortcuts tonight. 

"Do you want to be a good team? You want to win in the NBA? You've got to do the hard stuff. We couldn't even pass to each other. 

"We couldn't enter our offense, running ball screens literally at half court? Yeah, that's going to end up in a turnover. I don't know what we're doing."

 

 

 

 

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Luka Doncic had his second triple-double as a Laker with 22 points, 12 assists and 12 rebounds, but he shot 8-for-26, while Austin Reaves added 17 points but was 3-for-14 shooting.

"I just thought I played incredibly bad," Reaves said. "That's, really, you know, about as much as I can say about that. 

"It's frustrating not helping your team win. When Bron's out, I've got to be better and I wasn't. That's one of the reasons we lost.

"Everybody's got to buy in to helping the team be successful. I've said two or three times already, I've got to be better. We'll start there with me. I've got to be better."

The Lakers, now 40-23 for the season and third in the Western Conference, are back in action against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.