LOS ANGELES — Head coach JJ Redick says a simple adjustment to the halftime routine helped the Los Angeles Lakers reverse their long-standing third-quarter woes in Saturday night’s 116-108 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers had been outscored in the third period in all six preseason games and surrendered a 19-4 burst to the Golden State Warriors to open the second half of their season opener. Determined to end the trend, Redick urged players to leave the locker room early for extra shooting before the second half against Minnesota.
The change paid off. Los Angeles posted a 40-31 advantage in the third quarter and forced the Timberwolves to call timeout just 2:11 into the half after an 8-5 Lakers start.
“No basketball adjustments”
“There were no basketball adjustments. It was a halftime routine adjustment, that’s all,” Redick told reporters postgame. “The other team called the first timeout in the third quarter — maybe for the first time in Lakers history. We had a nice little celebration with the group. Maybe that’s the blueprint.”
Guard Austin Reaves said Redick’s halftime address was brief and direct. “Basically, ‘Don’t have a shitty third quarter,’” Reaves recalled. “It’s been our Achilles heel the last couple of years. Tonight was much better.”
Doncic’s historic start
The victory also featured another milestone for Luka Doncic. The guard became the first player in franchise history — and only the fourth in NBA history — to score at least 40 points in each of the first two games of a season. His 92 combined points trail only two players all-time through the opening two contests.
Los Angeles continues its three-game homestand Monday against the Phoenix Suns.
Source: Lakers Nation
