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LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers were favored in Game 1 of their opening round series of the NBA Playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and in the series overall. But after their 117-95 loss to the Wolves, the Lakers have their backs to the wall heading into Game 2. A big factor in the Timberwolves’ win against the Lakers was their physicality, something LeBron James believes the team needed to be aware of.
Following the Lakers’ loss, LeBron James spoke about the physical style of play the Timberwolves bring and how the team needs to be prepared for it heading into Game 2.
“When you play this Minnesota team, they’re gonna be physical. That’s what they bring to the table,” James said. “Maybe it took us one playoff game to now get a feel for it and know what type of intensity and type of physicality that’s being brought to the game. That’s just the way they play. We should be more than prepared for that on Tuesday night.”
The Lakers actually got off to a strong start in the first quarter behind Luka Doncic’s hot shooting, and they held a lead at the end of one. But in the second quarter, the Wolves outscored the Lakers, 38-20, and that set the tone for the rest of the game.
The Wolves’ hot shooting from three-point range also played a major factor in the Lakers’ loss. Overall, the Wolves shot 21-42 (50 percent) from the three-point line with a good portion of their threes being wide-open. Limiting the Wolves’ volume of three-point shots is something that James believes the Lakers can control going into Game 2.
“We got to do a better job of controlling the controllables. I don’t think we did a good enough job after the first quarter,” James said. “Giving up 21 threes, giving up 20-plus fast-break points, second chance points, those are some of the things that we can control.”
“Obviously the three-point shooting, we know they have a lot of lasers. They have a lot of guys that can shoot from the perimeter,” James continued. “We got to do a better job of closing out on the bodies, getting out on shooters. We’ll get back in the film room tomorrow, look at the things we did well, some of the things we didn’t do so well and continue to game plan for Game 2.”
James in particular shook off a slow start in the first quarter of Game 1, and was able to find a little bit of a rhythm the rest of the game. He finished with 19 points and shot 8-of-16 (50 percent) from the second quarter on. The Lakers will look to even up the series in Game 2 on Tuesday night before the series shifts to Minnesota later in the week.
