LeBron James knows the Los Angeles Lakers have basically no margin for error against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors.
At Lakers practice on Monday, LeBron said he's “super-duper locked in” (super-duper!) for the Dubs matchup.
“You can’t make a mistake. They’ll make you pay. You can’t make a mistake. It’s that simple,” he stressed.
LeBron is averaging 22.2 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 5.2 assists in his 16th postseason, though he has often looked limited by his lingering foot injury and/or generally gassed. The 20-year veteran only made 19.5% of his 3s against the Memphis Grizzlies despite settling for 6.8 per game.
Los Angeles won three of four meetings with Golden State during the regular season, though none of the three post-trade-deadline meetings featured both LeBron and Steph.
Darvin Ham emphasized the importance of ball security and limiting points off turnovers throughout the first round. The Lakers averaged 13.3 turnovers per game vs. the Grizzlies. The Warriors ranked No. 10 in the NBA in points off turnovers during the regular season. Meanwhile, Golden State's free-flowing, elaborate, seasoned perimeter-oriented offense poses a completely different stylistic challenge than the Grizzlies. Missed rotations will kill the Lakers.
“They obviously shoot a lot of 3s,” said Austin Reaves. “Transition 3s. You know, just 3s everywhere, honestly.”
James also spoke on his admiration for Curry and the similarities between the icons that have defined their long-standing, now-friendly rivalry.
“He puts in the work, and when you put in the work, nine times out of 10 you're going to see results. He's done that throughout his whole entire career. I have nothing but the utmost respect for everything he's been able on the floor not only on the floor, but off the floor, too. It's great to have people like that in this league and set an example for generations to come.
“We’re two of the most competitive players that have ever played this game and we want to etch our names in the history books as much as we can. … I got nothing but the greatest respect for Steph.”
LeBron and Steph memorably squared off in four consecutive NBA Finals, but their upcoming second-round clash will be the first time they've met in an earlier playoff round — and their first playoff meeting since LeBron join the Lakers, excluding that insane “three rims” Play-In game in 2021.
Game 1 tips off on Tuesday at the Chase Center.
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