While JJ Redick was complaining about the techs on Sunday night, his opposing coach had a different take. Joe Mazzulla, the guy who almost recruited Redick into his coaching staff, very bluntly shattered the illusion LakeShow has with their ‘Big 3.’ He didn’t do it just by serving a blowout 89-111 loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles. Mazzulla dished the cheat code of the Lakers’ reliance on LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves.

Despite the prestige of a lineup featuring these three stars, Mazzulla’s Celtics exposed glaring defensive and shooting vulnerabilities that have plagued the Lakers throughout February (and before that). When asked how his team managed to neutralize three of the most creative playmakers in the league, Mazzulla’s response was a chilling reality check for the Purple and Gold.

“Everybody’s like, how do you defend them? How do you defend them?” Mazzulla told reporters are sweeping the Lakers 2-0 this season. “You gotta attack them.” Those four words translated into the Celtics’ aggressive philosophy behind the 22-point blowout tonight.

The Celtics’ wings, led by Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard, relentlessly pressured the Lakers’ primary creators. The Lakers not only had no answer to their relentless offense, they lost their composure for the rest of the game.

The over-reliance on just their starpower proved detrimental as only James (20), Doncic (25), and Reaves (15) had double digits. They had very little support from the role players, including three players having zero points.

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Not that the Celtics had top scorers all around. Apart from Brown’s 32 and Pritchard’s 30, Derrick White had 12 and Neemias Queta had 10 points. The others had low single digits. But they’re not suffering from the same problem the Lakers are.

Lakers’ shooting slump on display for elite opponents

The loss to Boston, along with Mazzulla’s straightforward tactic, is sobering evidence for a Lakers team still searching for its identity. While the team has finally managed to get its stars on the floor together, the results against top-tier competition have been underwhelming.

The Celtics’ strategy forced LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves into high-usage, low-efficiency roles while struggling to keep pace on the other end. James 43k career milestone tonight came from shooting 9-of-21 from the field and only one of five shots from the arc. Doncic was near similar.

Lakers insider, Jovan Buha made a concerning observation that the Lakers’ last four double-digit losses were against the four teams with the best records: Spurs, Rockets, Celtics and Suns. It’s further amplified by their shooting regression this season.

41-year-old James has suffered a huge decline beyond the arc,  21% from 3 in the month of February and 30.6% across the season. It’s a stark decline from the previous season and a career low since his rookie season.

This slump isn’t isolated as Trevor Lane further pointed out that, “3 of the Lakers’ 4 highest-volume 3pt shooters (Luka, Smart, LeBron) are currently shooting below league avg from 3.”

A few days ago, JJ Redick admitted that they’re an elite team when they’re in the paint. But this shooting deficit has allowed elite defenses like Boston’s to “pack the paint” and dare the Lakers to beat them from the perimeter.

With Mazzulla’s “attack” mandate now public, the Lakers must find a way to stabilize their perimeter game before their Big 3 experiment becomes a defensive target for every title contender in the West.