The Lakers can't make shots fall in their preseason loss to the Warriors

The Lakers will need more than seven days to figure out who they want to be under new coach JJ Redick.

But the actual competition is just a week away, and the start of the season is just around the corner for the team.

In their fourth preseason game, this Tuesday in Las Vegas against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, the Lakers looked like a team with a plan. However, they didn't quite look like a team that was close to making it happen.

The Lakers, eager to hit more three-pointers after ranking second-to-last in attempts last season, all seemed eager to get started. But for the third time in four preseason games, the ball was flying all over the gym as the team shot just 11 of 40 (27.5%) from distance.

And against the Warriors, even with Klay Thompson in Dallas now, you have to make shots. You have to be disciplined in defense. And on Tuesday, in a 111-98 loss, they simply didn't do enough of either.

Read more: Why didn't Dwight Howard return to the Lakers after the 2020 title? He and Jeanie Buss clear the air

“When we came up with something, they hurt us,” Redick said.

It wasn't just that, though. After outscoring Milwaukee in a win over the Bucks last week, the Lakers didn't score with the same intensity as Golden State. And when they got extra possessions off of offensive rebounds, as they did all night, they usually failed.

“The recordings we took gave me a lot of courage. “Very encouraging,” Redick said. “When we didn’t trust our offense and got a little stagnant, the ball got stuck.”

Since taking over as Lakers coach, Redick has embraced a perspective of valuing process over results, and creating and hitting the right three-pointers has been a big priority for his team during the preseason.

Anthony Davis continued his momentum from the summer against his Olympic coach Steve Kerr, making 10 of 14 from the field on his way to 24 points. Dalton Knecht, who started the game 2-for-8, made four shots in the fourth period and scored 19 points. LeBron James scored just six points in 23 minutes.

Redick said Knecht, who scored 14 of those points in Game 4, is expected to be aggressive on offense even when games begin in earnest next Tuesday against Minnesota.

“It doesn’t have an off switch, which is great. I mean, he's going to continue to shoot the ball and be aggressive. The biggest thing for him is, you know, defense, we need to get him better and up to speed, but that's the case with almost every NBA rookie… He can get his shot off. I want him to be aggressive. I don't want to get stuck in his head. And you know, whether it’s 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20, 25 minutes, like we want him to be Dalton Knecht when he’s on the floor.”

Curry had 16 for the Warriors, who were without Brandin Podziemski and De'Anthony Melton.

Austin Reaves, who missed the win against the Bucks, returned Tuesday and played the first half while recovering from an ankle injury.

“I feel good,” Reaves said. “I just like to go out and play. When they told me 15 to 18 minutes, of course I thought, 'Cool.' When I got there, I thought, 'I want to play more.' But you stick to the script and trust the medical staff to get me into that best placed to be healthy all year round.”

The Lakers will play in Phoenix on Thursday in what could be a dress rehearsal for the regular season before ending their six-game schedule with another road game – this one on Friday in San Francisco against the Warriors.

Subscribe to our weekly Lakers newsletter.

This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.