{"id":640079,"date":"2026-05-13T06:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T06:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/640079\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T06:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T06:36:10","slug":"cameras-catch-luka-doncic-failing-to-hide-frustration-over-jj-redicks-bizarre-decision-as-lakers-suffer-humiliating-sweep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/640079\/","title":{"rendered":"Cameras Catch Luka Doncic Failing to Hide Frustration Over JJ Redick\u2019s Bizarre Decision as Lakers Suffer Humiliating Sweep"},"content":{"rendered":"

With just 12.2 seconds left and the Lakers<\/a> trailing by three, JJ Redick<\/a> pulled his hottest shooter from the floor, and the cameras caught exactly what Luka Doncic<\/a> thought about it. Despite Rui<\/a> Hachimura\u2019s offensive brilliance throughout the night, the power forward was replaced by Maxi Kleber<\/a> in the closing seconds, a decision that left Doncic visibly stunned on the sideline. He squeezed his face in disbelief, unable to process what he was watching.<\/p>\n

Hachimura had earned his place on the court. Pouring in 21 of his 25 points in the second half while shooting 60% from the floor and 50% from deep, he had been the Lakers\u2019 most reliable offensive weapon all night. Removing him with a three-point deficit and time still on the clock \u2013 time enough for one more shot \u2013 baffled not just Doncic but teammates across the bench.<\/p>\n

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The Thunder\u2019s defense, no longer anchored to Hachimura\u2019s threat, shifted its focus to LeBron James<\/a> and Austin Reaves<\/a>. Reaves got the look Redick had designed the play around and missed the three.<\/p>\n

OKC scored two more to close it out, 115-110, and with that, the sweep was complete: 108-90, 125-107, 131-108, 115-110. That outcome only deepened the scrutiny surrounding Redick\u2019s call, and in the hours that followed, the reasoning behind it began to surface.<\/p>\n

The Lakers prioritized spacing and screening over Rui\u2019s hot shooting hand<\/p>\n

Redick<\/a>, it turns out, was never drawing up a play for Hachimura. The intent was to manufacture the right spacing and movement to free up James or Reaves for a scoring opportunity. Kleber was brought in as the screener; Kennard<\/a> as a decoy.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe explanation I\u2019ve heard is Kleber was in as a screener. Kennard a decoy (third option),\u201d noted ESPN senior writer Ramona Shelburne on X. \u201cAR or Bron was getting the shot. Smart was the passer. Kleber is a good screener and good with execution. Hence, he was in there over Rui. Neither was getting the ball. Kennard in there over Rui because of the gravity he creates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kennard never touched the ball, but his presence as a floor spacer was enough to pull Thunder defenders out of position \u2013 or so the plan intended. Redick prioritized James and Reaves over Hachimura\u2019s hot hand, a calculated gamble that ultimately backfired when the shot didn\u2019t fall.<\/p>\n

It was not the first time Redick\u2019s substitution instincts drew fire. Just last year, against the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> in Game 4 of the first round, the Lakers became the first team since tracking began in 1997 to make no substitutions in the second half of a playoff game. The no-sub gamble cost them the game and put them on the brink of elimination, drawing public criticism from Magic Johnson himself<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Redick pushed back on the backlash, insisting that fatigue was not to blame for the fourth-quarter collapse. The Hachimura benching was simply the next chapter in a season-long debate about whether Redick\u2019s instincts, bold as they are, can be trusted when the margin for error disappears.<\/p>\n

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Redick has yet to address the substitution directly. In the aftermath of the loss, he focused instead on the team\u2019s competitive spirit \u2013 a generous read of a night that ended not just in defeat, but in a sweep.<\/p>\n

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The post Cameras Catch Luka Doncic Failing to Hide Frustration Over JJ Redick\u2019s Bizarre Decision as Lakers Suffer Humiliating Sweep<\/a> appeared first on EssentiallySports<\/a>. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With just 12.2 seconds left and the Lakers trailing by three, JJ Redick pulled his hottest shooter from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[11654,66655,272736,6306,3013,3014,31764,11951,355,66656,99],"class_list":["post-640079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-austin-reaves","tag-jj-redick","tag-kennard","tag-lakers","tag-lebron-james","tag-luka-doncic","tag-maxi-kleber","tag-minnesota-timberwolves","tag-nba","tag-rui","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}