Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick made complaints about the elevated court at the Rocket Arena but he admits that they got a bigger problem than that that led to their 30-point loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Lebron James’ special night in his former team was spoiled after the Lakers dropped the last two quarters. They dropped those in the most embarrassing way when they were outscored by 20 points in the third and by 8 points in the fourth.
Redick pointed to his third quarter coaching strategy as the suspect for the loss.
“We got outplayed, I got outcoached,” he admitted.
I got out coached. I probably should have made a substitutions earlier in that third. We just didn’t look like we had all of our juice tonight. Should’ve went to the bench earlier in that third. It just felt like an avalanche after that, of 3’s and a layups.”
JJ Redick and Luka Doncic on Rocket Arena
Redick may be timid on his rant about the elevated court but player affected heavily by it was Luka Doncic who felt discomfort after falling from it in the first quarter. The superstar said he was afraid at first before returning.
“I got scared. It wasn’t a great feeling. Looking back at the video, I think I got a little lucky,” he said. “It hurts more now, but I tried to go.”
Luka Doncic tweaked his ankle due to the elevated Cavaliers’ court and went to the locker room 😳
He later returned to the game ✊pic.twitter.com/pmoCyZ0EQU
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) January 29, 2026
Redick, for his part, is confused, why the league continues to approve such design.
“I don’t know why it’s still like that. I don’t. You can lodge for more complaints. A lot of times you don’t, see any change when you lodge a formal complaint,” he said.
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