JJ Redick ‘frustrated’ with late-game execution vs. Hawks

Another loss means more comments from JJ Redick regarding the Lakers’ inability to execute the game plan.

Los Angeles ended their road trip with a whimper, losing to the Hawks 134-132. This defeat demonstrated that the Lakers are not done finding new ways to lose.

After a woeful offensive performance versus the Wolves and an embarrassing loss against the Heat, Friday's result was due to poor late-game execution.

The miscues by L.A. piled up in overtime play.

With 28 seconds left and the Lakers up by one, Anthony Davis made a careless entry pass to LeBron James that ended up in the hands of Dyson Daniels. Luckily LeBron got the block and after a challenge, L.A. regained possesion.

However, they squandered this opportunity by allowing AD to get triple-teamed, causing a jumpball situation. The Lakers could not maintain possesion and the Hawks had a chance to steal the game with 19.6 seconds left.

Atlanta did just that thanks to a Trae Young 3-pointer that essentially ended the game and extended the Lakers' losing streak to three games and counting.

Postgame, JJ Redick discussed the self-inflicted errors by the Lakers during overtime.

"Different type of scenario than the Orlando game but certainly frustrated with late-game execution," Redick said. "Turnover, LeBron makes a great play to get the block. Wasn't exactly the right sort of angles and screening that we had done many times in practice in one of our end-game, get-the-ball-in type of plays.

"I think the concern when you run that is when AD comes back toward half court, that's not what you want, ideally, because then he's in sort of a trappable spot versus catching it in the middle of the floor. Then, they did a good job in pursuit of the basketball on the jump ball and then, I don't know if it was the communication or what not, we messed up the [defense] with Trae Young and left him open."

It's hard to pick the worst play from the Lakers in this game between the wide-open Young game-winner, the AD triple-team and the turnover by Davis.

Given the play sealing the team's fate and just how poorly they defended it, Trae's shot will likely be the one Lakers fans pick as the most frustrating moment in this defeat.

Leaving the best shooter wide open in a non-fastbreak scenario is mindboggling and a clear example of how lost this team is defensively.

The Lakers are a flawed team and suffering from injuries, with four rotation-level players currently unavailable.

To overcome this, they'll need to play near-perfect basketball to win games. Self-inflicted errors such as poor defense and clumsy turnovers are exactly what they cannot afford to do.

Los Angeles is currently on a three-game losing streak and has lost seven of its last nine and quickly dropping to the bottom of the West.

If they continue to get out-executed late, it won't be long before they are hanging out in the NBA's basement, wondering why they sit there with a healthy LeBron and AD playing at a high level.

Honestly, ownership should already be asking these questions now.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.