JJ Redick Explains What Changed for Lakers in Win Over Clippers

One night after giving up 136 points to the Portland Trail Blazers, the Los Angeles Lakers went across town and held the Los Angeles Clippers to 87 points in a 103-87 win at Intuit Dome on Wednesday.

They were missing guard Luka Doncic, who was out with a back injury, and it was the second night of their first back-to-back of the season.

The win moved the Lakers to 4-1 and dropped the Clippers to 1-3.

After the Portland game, head coach JJ Redick explained how his team got broken down on defense, so he was happy with the way his players carried that into the next game.

"For a team responding to their first loss, us harping on some defensive stuff that wasn't up to our standards, they responded in a nice way," Redick said in his postgame interview with Spectrum SportsNet.

The Clippers shot 26 of 74 from the field and turned the ball over 24 times, while the Lakers grabbed 48 rebounds, 17 of them on the offensive glass, and came away with 15 steals.

Redick said the harder playing team wins most of the time in the NBA, and he called the work on the offensive glass phenomenal.

Guard Quentin Grimes started in Doncic's place and led everyone with 23 points to go with four steals, while forward Jake LaRavia pulled down 10 rebounds.

Off the bench, guard Collin Sexton gave the Lakers 21 points, but it was the defense that turned a tired night on the road into a comfortable win.

Guard Austin Reaves had pointed to the team's game plan discipline after the Portland loss, and the Lakers made the Clippers work for almost everything the next night.

Redick did not act like the job is done, though, as he said the team botched a couple of things in the first half, went over them on the bench and on the board, and then botched them again, but his players kept playing hard.

He also said the Lakers have a lot of work to do but have the makeup to be a decent defensive team, if not a really good one.

I agree with him, since the offense was never the worry and Redick said the Lakers were the best or second-best offense in the league over the first four games.

How far this team goes will come down to the defense, and Wednesday gave a good look at what it can be when everyone buys in.

Next up is a trip to face the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center on Friday.

Doncic is listed as day-to-day with the back injury, and forward Ziaire Williams is also day-to-day after missing Wednesday's game with a foot injury.

Forward Adou Thiero and guard Cameron Carr were ruled out against the Clippers too.

Getting Doncic back would give the Lakers their star guard again, but I care more about whether the defense holds up once he returns.

If Friday at Chase Center looks like Wednesday with Doncic back in the lineup, I will believe this team can guard well enough to be a real threat in the West.