The Los Angeles Lakers are dealing with complications after a three-game losing streak a week ago left some fans nervous about the state of the team. However, since then the Lakers have won three straight games, including a 110-101 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night.
It was a masterclass on the defensive end that paved the way for the Lakers to victory. They outscored the Pelicans 34–23 in the final frame, and had a stretch where they were getting their hands on the Pelicans' ballhandler on every drive. This showed that a team can have an advantage on the defensive end when they have active hands and when they are locked in as a unit.
In fact, the win impressed Lakers head coach JJ Redick to such an extent that he compared to That's the kind of wins they were getting earlier in the season as they started the 2025-26 campaign with a 15-4 record.
Redick said in his postgame presser, via Benjamin Royer of the Orange County Register, "To be honest, this isn't a win we've had since probably November, where we're down. We had a lot of early wins when we started 15-4, we had a lot of double-digit deficits in the second half and we stuck with it and kept playing. It was a good win for us to be able to do that again."
JJ Redick on the Lakers' 110-101 win over the Pelicans, comparing it to the team's 15-4 win earlier in the season:
“Frankly, this is not a win that we have probably had since November.” pic.twitter.com/PaH8UG6NHO
- Benjamin Royer (@thebenroyer) 4 March 2026
Lakers match Pelicans' physicality
Redick also credited Marcus Smart and Jackson Hayes for stepping up and helping the Lakers assert themselves defensively in the second half, leading to a comfortable win in the end.
Redick said, "The big emphasis for us in the pregame and on film was just our physicality. You have to match Zion's physicality. Match Saddiq Bey's physicality. I thought Smart was unbelievable tonight. When we got back into the game defensively in the second half, he and Jackson helped us win the game. They changed the game."
