Redick confident Lakers will find chemistry, rhythm

LAS VEGAS — This city remains a Lakers town.

But for how long?

As the NBA tries to decide when, not if, Las Vegas joins the league, the Los Angeles Lakers will continue to hold the hearts of the pro basketball fans here. It’s been that way for decades — from West, Baylor and Wilt to Kareem, Magic and Worthy to Shaq and Kobe to LeBron and Luka. The Lakers are beloved in Las Vegas.

Over the years, we’ve seen the Lakers in the preseason, in the regular season and the postseason here. Abdul-Jabbar broke the NBA scoring record at the time in 1984 at the Thomas & Mack Center in the regular season against the Utah Jazz and the Lakers played a playoff game at the Thomas & Mack in 1992 when the Great Western Forum was not available due to the aftermath of the Rodney King Riots.

But the preseason has been an annual pilgrimage and the Lakers returned to T-Mobile Arena Tuesday night, a team searching for an identity, looking to build a chemistry from within. LeBron James took his talents to Philadelphia, leaving Luka Doncic as the main man in Lakerland. General manager Rob Pelinka has tried to build around No. 77, adding Walker Kessler to fill the middle and Kevon Looney and Sandro Mamukelashvili to add some bulk up front.

Pelinka also extended Austin Reaves with a four-year, $168 million deal to ride shotgun with Doncic. The Lakers added Quentin Grimes and Matisse Thybulle to the backcourt as well.

So with all these new faces, it stands to reason it’s going to take time for this group to mesh. Kessler made his Lakers debut against the Golden State Warriors Tuesday as he had been dealing with a finger injury sustained early in training camp and has not played in any of the team’s three preseason games to date.

While Kessler was on the court Tuesday, Doncic was not as coach JJ Redick is trying to get as many people some court time in the preseason as possible. And even though a game like this would normally serve as a dress rehearsal, perhaps they’ll use Friday’s game vs. Denver at crypto.com Arena as such.

Reaves took charge, scoring 28 points in 25 minutes, including four 3-pointers but the Lakers were unable to fend off the Warriors, who erased a 20-point deficit to win, 101-89.

Redick said it’s rhythm, not chemistry, that concerns him.

“I think there’s a natural chemistry with this group,” he said. “It started here in the summer with the veterans’ mini-camp where everyone showed up. We’ve done things together as a team and even with all the bodies that have been out in training camp, I feel like we’re together.

“I think it’s the rhythm on the court that is going to take time. It takes weeks and weeks of the regular season to develop. Right now, the plan the same as it has been the entire camp — focus on us. We just want to get healthy. We just want to get better and find a rhythm.”

Kessler had missed all but five games last year while with the Jazz from a torn labrum injury in his left shoulder that required surgery, showed no ill effects in his first action with his new team. He played just under 16 minutes, all in the first half, finishing with 11 points, nine rebounds, a blocked shot, an assist and a steal.

“It was a lot of fun being out there again,” Kessler said. “It’s been a long time. I was actually pretty nervous before the game. But getting out there, playing with the guys, it was a blast.

“I think I have a certain presence on the floor. But my teammates did a great job. We shared the ball really well in the first half tonight.”

Redick said Kessler’s first time out was solid.

I think he’s a great fit for our team,” Redick said of the 7-foot-1, 270-pound Kessler. “I thought he did a nice job of running the floor, crashing the boards. He protected the rim. A really, really good first half for him.”

And while Tuesday’s crowd of 7,471 was somewhat sparse — it was the preseason after all with the cheapest face value tickets going for $89 plus fees — Redick is of the belief that when Las Vegas joins the NBA that the city will support its team. And even though many will likely be converts from their fandom with the Lakers, that’s O.K.

“I know it’s important for the Lakers,” Redick said of the team’s annual Vegas visit. “But the city has shown it is a great sports town. Look at the Aces and the Golden Knights.

“I expect if Vegas gets an NBA team, this place will be rockin’.”

Well, maybe not T-Mobile Arena per se. But wherever the Las Vegas expansion team plays, likely in 2029, it will have a lot of energy in its building. Reports last week were that the NBA may wait on the Las Vegas announcement until next year while going forward with its plan to add Seattle for 2028-29 where that team would play at Climate Pledge Arena.

Where Redick was concerned was the helter-skelter way his team finished the game. Granted, it was a mix of second-stringers and guys who probably are headed to the G league. But  Redick was hoping for a little more cohesion.

The Warriors, who had been down 63-50 at halftime and at one point trailed by as many as 20, took an 84-78 lead with 8:12 to play as both teams rested their starters down the stretch. Golden State was able to close things out with its reserves and that wasn’t lost on Redick.

“Some of those turnovers were just us being unorganized,” Redick said of the bulk of his team’s 29 turnovers committed Tuesday. “We’re two weeks into camp. We’ll continue to build that group up and they’ve got to do a better job of being organized with the offense.”