Lakers beat Timberwolves in JJ Redick’s coaching debut as LeBron James, Bronny make history – Daily News

LOS ANGELES — The Lakers’ 110-103 season-opening victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night was momentous for multiple reasons.

Star forward LeBron James and his son, Bronny, officially became the first father and son to play in an NBA game simultaneously – let alone as teammates.

It marked the first time the Lakers have won their season opener since 2016.

And the victory at Crypto.com Arena was the Lakers’ first under first-time head coach JJ Redick, whose impact was felt from the onset with the team’s style of play and hustle.

“Our guys really did a phenomenal job of executing our gameplan,” Redick said. “They competed all night. And that’s fun to coach when your team is competing at that level.”

Despite having a subpar shooting game (44.2% from the field, 5 for 30 from 3-point range), the Lakers’ emphasis under Redick on being more structured and organized on both sides of the ball, as well as making efforts toward winning the possession battle, they were showcased.

“The gameplan, the schemes that he had on both ends of the floor, he trusts us,” said All-Star big man Anthony Davis, who led the Lakers with 36 points and 16 rebounds. “We trust him, as far as what he teaches us, what he wants us to do on the floor on both ends and it’s our job to go execute it. We were very prepared.

“We executed the gameplan to a T. I’m not going to tell you the gameplan because I know Minnesota probably be watching this and figure out how to try to beat us next time. But our gameplan was elite and we executed it and was able to get the win.”

Davis was the focal point offensively, even during late-game situations when the Lakers often found themselves not running the offense through him last season.

Davis, who scored 11 points in the final seven minutes to help close out the win, added four assists, three blocked shots and one steal in his 38 minutes.

Counting his late assist to Rui Hachimura, Davis was directly responsible for 13 of the Lakers’ 18 points after he subbed back into the game with 7:09 left.

“He is the main focal point for us offensively and defensively,” LeBron said. “And we got to make sure we continue to get him involved. The coaching staff and JJ, they do a great job of always putting him in positions where he is a recipient of the offense. And when A.D. has it going, it’s our job as the ball handlers to continue to feed them, find them. And A.D. did what A.D. does.”

Davis’ scoring total was the most by a Laker in the season opener since Kobe Bryant in 2007 (45 points). Tuesday was the 100th 25-point, 15-rebound game of Davis’ career.

“A.D. was phenomenal,” Redick said. “Felt like he attacked the game the right way. He just plays the game the right way.”

Hachimura played with a ferocity and aggressiveness that he didn’t consistently display last season, finishing with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting.

The Lakers had three more offensive rebounds (15-12) and nine fewer turnovers (7-16) than the Timberwolves, helping give them an advantage in field goal attempts (95-85) while they only took two fewer free throws than Minnesota (25 -27).

“The very first thing I said to our team – we have to be better at the possession battle, here’s how,” Redick said. “And they did that. Minnesota, the least amount of turnovers they forced last year was eight and we came in with seven. Obviously, the offensive rebounds was a huge part. We put ourselves in a position to win a basketball game because of that ‘We can offset bad shooting nights from (3-point range) if we have more possessions.’”

LeBron finished with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Austin Reaves (12 points, nine rebounds, four assists) and Jaxson Hayes (10 points, four rebounds) also scored in double figures. First-round draft pick Dalton Knecht scored five points in his NBA debut.

The Lakers finished with 72 points in the paint, 30 more than Minnesota. Fifty-nine of the Lakers’ 65 2-point attempts were inside the paint.

“We were able to get good shots in the paint,” Redick said. “You can want to shoot a lot of threes, but if you’re getting good shots in the paint, that’s good offense for us. Particularly with the players we have that are taking those shots: AR, D-Lo, Bron and A.D. Obviously, Rui was great. The paint was open the second half.”

As for his own debut, Redick said he felt comfortable from the outset.

“It was awesome. Gabe (Vincent) and I were talking right before the national anthem. I said, ‘Hey, how are you feeling?’ He said, ‘I feel great. I feel clear-minded. How are you feeling?’ I said, ‘I feel great. I feel clear-minded. No jitters,’” Redick said. “You feel the juice and the energy from it but it felt comfortable and natural and all that. Again, I’m very fortunate that I have the staff that I have and that I have the players I have and get to coach. I’m very grateful for all of that.”

LeBron and Bronny had their historic moment in the second quarter when they checked into the game together with four minutes left.