JJ Redick credits the Lakers for winning the possession battle vs. Wolves
The Lakers got JJ Redick his first win on opening night by ensuring most possessions resulted in good looks and few turnovers.
Los Angeles had to play a complete and consistent game to win the season opener against Minnesota at home on Tuesday night.
They accomplished that task by focusing on the small details of the game—things like taking care of the ball, getting those elusive offensive rebounds and knocking down their free throws.
It was a relatively smooth win and while the margin of victory in the end was just seven points, the Lakers led by as many as 19, never trailed by more than two and were ahead the entire second half.
In his postgame press conference, Redick commended his team for their ability to take care of the basketball.
"It's the very first thing I said to our team," Redick said. 'We have to be better at the possession battle. Here's how,' and they did that tonight. I believe Mac, our analytics coach, he said Minnesota, the least amount of turnovers they forced last year was eight and we came in with seven. Obviously the offensive rebound was a huge part. We got to the free throw line. AD did a great job of that. We put ourselves in a position to win a basketball game because of that. We can offset that shooting nights from three if we have more possessions."
There are so many things you want to accomplish in a possession. Of course, you want to score, but to do that, you need to create a good-quality look. Getting that shot means you must make smart decisions and not be careless with the ball. If the team misses on that shot, someone needs to grab that rebound to create another chance.
The Lakers optimize their possessions far better than the Wolves did. They outrebounded them on the offensive glass 15-12 and had just seven turnovers to their 16.
Defensively, L.A. was dominant, with eight blocks to Minnesota's one. Then, turning that defense into offense, scoring 17 points via the fastbreak and 16 points off of turnovers.
With the Western Conference stacked with talent and the Lakers having the eighth-best record last year, it's safe to say they will be playing many opponents early on who are better than them on paper.
The only way to change that perception and outperform expectations is to be obsessed with the details and outwork their more talented opponents.
On Tuesday, the Lakers were a well-oiled machine and the Wolves was forced into playing an uncharacteristically poor game.
Redick has his players' attention; they've been committed to his process and now, with early results showing that it can work, hopefully, this will be the start of a strong first month of basketball for the Lakers.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.