The Los Angeles Lakers have enjoyed a strong start to the season, sitting third in a crowded Western Conference at 19-7. That record, though, may only tell part of the story. Without clear improvement on the defensive end, an area that has troubled them all year, the Purple and Gold will struggle to make a deep playoff run.

In fact, it’s been such a glaring issue for the Lakers that head coach JJ Redick even summoned both of his superstar players, LeBron James and Luka Doncic, to a meeting in which he urged them to pick up the intensity on that end of the floor. However, that talk faded away on Thursday night, as the Utah Jazz put up 78 points in the first half, which prompted Redick to adjust his tactics.

“Very simple. If we have to make an adjustment. We’ll make an adjustment,” he said. “If you’re not doing the things we’re asking you to do, then that’s on you. It’s very simple. We’ll make an adjustment. And we have made adjustments throughout the year at halftime.”

The second-year head coach emphasized that his players need to understand that when a change is needed, he’ll make one. Well, that’s exactly what he did during his team’s clash with the Jazz, as the Purple & Gold picked their slack up in the second half. JJ Redick gave his team a solid prep talk and asked them to pick up their slack, which they did as well in the second half.

“Other times, we just show it. This is what we did for the last two days. This is what we did this morning at the hotel. This is what we watched on film multiple times. This is not what we did in the game. You know, it’s just do it better,” Redick further suggested.

Redick’s talk did spark a change in his team, as they came back from a deficit to win the game 143-135 at the Delta Center in Utah. It seems like the Lakers’ head coach made himself and his tactics pretty clear to his players at halftime, and even seemingly during the third quarter when he called a timeout following a wide-open three-pointer from Utah’s Brice Sensabaugh.

Well, that was something that the Lakers players needed, especially with them being pretty terrible defensively as of late. More so, because Redick might’ve also needed to reassert his authority as a head coach of this illustrious franchise after what happened between him and LeBron James during their previous game against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.

LeBron James defied JJ Redick during Los Angeles’ win over Phoenix

While JJ Redick firmly got his message through at halftime on Thursday, the Los Angeles Lakers head coach couldn’t do the same on Sunday, when things got a little awkward between him and LeBron James. Even though the Lakers were able to pull off a narrow 116-114 win over the Suns, there was an incident that could’ve cost them the game.

It all started when the veteran forward headed to the free-throw line following a technical foul from the Jazz. While that might not seem like a problem on the surface, the issue was that Redick had discussed with the players that it would be Luka Doncic who would step up if such a situation arose, but James decided to take matters into his own hands.

“S— I just walked to the free-throw line,” he said postgame. “I mean, why wouldn’t I?”

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Well, maybe that wouldn’t have been an issue had he made the free throw, but unfortunately, he didn’t. Moreover, he did not even have a solid reason to back up his decision on the court despite the head coach instructing them otherwise, something he did confirm caught him off guard after the final buzzer.

“Luka and I had talked,” Redick said. “Thought Luka was going to shoot it. I walked back; LeBron was at the free-throw line. He shot it. I don’t know what the dialogue on the court was.”

“Sometimes it’s the superstar, sometimes it’s the best free-throw shooter, sometimes it’s a guy who maybe needs to see the ball go in the basket,” Redick further stated. “It’s all situational. But Luka should have shot that.”

While JJ Redick gave a diplomatic answer back then, he wanted Doncic to take that shot. Nonetheless, the Lakers got the job done against Phoenix, but their head coach might’ve wanted to assert that he needs his players to follow his instructions, even LeBron James, which is why he gave such a strong response on Thursday. Now, it will be worth watching whether that helps his team or not.