Redick's outburst sparks Lakers: We needed 'urgency button' back on
Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick called a timeout midway through the third quarter and ripped into his team after it allowed the Minnesota Timberwolves to cut a 22-point lead in half.
Redick sensed momentum building for the visiting side, and the Lakers immediately responded to his outburst with a crucial 9-0 scoring run en route to a 94-85 Game 2 victory.
"Not frustration just coaching. ... Just wanted to make sure everybody was on the same page," Redick told reporters postgame about his message in the huddle, according to Spectrum SportsNet.
Redick added: "I've done that in a game a handful of times. … It's not something that I want to do. It's something I'm more than comfortable of doing. I think tonight it was just more about getting that urgency button switched back on."
Lakers superstar LeBron James likened the way Redick handled himself to his high school coach.
"We know JJ is gonna spazz out from time to time. That's JJ," James said after the Lakers' tied the first-round series at one game apiece. "At this point for us, obviously we need to listen to the message and not the way he's delivering it.
"For me, my high school coach my freshman year was kind of the same way. He would spazz out on us, and you have to be able to understand ... it's not how he's saying it, it's about what he's saying. I thought we responded after that."
The series now shifts to Minnesota with Game 3 set for 9:30 p.m. ET. Friday