Luka Doncic, Los Angeles Lakers fall to Brooklyn Nets - ESPN

NEW YORK — A visibly perturbed Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick didn't care that his team was missing three starters, including superstar LeBron James, after Monday's 111-108 loss to the Brooklyn Nets.

The players who were available didn't play up to the team's standards.

«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.»

Besides James, sitting out his first game since sustaining a strained left groin against the Boston Celtics on Saturday, L.A. was without starting center Jaxson Hayes (knee), starting forward Rui Hachimura (knee) and key reserve Dorian Finney-Smith (ankle).

The Lakers led by as many as 15 points early, and their defense held Brooklyn to only 16 points in the first quarter on 31.6% shooting.

It all went downhill from there.

«I think it was just an overall mentality just to take shortcuts tonight,» Redick said. «Want to be a good team? You want to win in the NBA? You 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.»

Luka Doncic, when asked about Redick's criticism of the team's communication, took responsibility for the loss.

«When JJ said [that] about communication today, that was important,» Doncic said. «That's my fault and we should have done better at that.»

Doncic logged his second triple-double as a Laker with 22 points, 12 assists and 12 rebounds, but he shot 8-for-26 (3-for-10 from 3) with five turnovers.

The Nets repeatedly blitzed Doncic with two defenders — something Doncic says he has seen too many times to count