Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James knows his career is reaching the back end, which is why he stressed that he doesn’t take the playoffs for granted.
James has won four championships in his career and this year might be his best and final shot at another ring as he’s got a strong roster and a co-star in Luka Doncic to help him get through the postseason. Standing in his way for a fifth championship is the Minnesota Timberwolves, who took Game 1 behind a strong two-way performance.
The Lakers started Game 1 on a high note as they took an early lead behind a scoring flurry from Doncic, though things quickly spiraled in the second quarter as Minnesota was able to get out in transition and hit nearly every 3-pointer they took to take a huge double-digit lead. Although the Lakers were able to chip away at the deficit late in the third quarter, the Timberwolves responded with another run in the fourth quarter to seal their victory.
James understands that defense wins championships, so it wasn’t a surprise to hear him say he and the team need to better in several areas.
“Obviously we gotta do a better job controlling the controllables, and I don’t think we did a good enough job after the first quarter,” he said. “They blitzed us in that second quarter 38-20. But 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 3-point shooting. We know they have a lot of lasers. They have a lot of guys that can shoot from the perimeter.
“So, we gotta do a better job of closing the bodies, getting out on shooters. We’ll get back in the film room tomorrow, look at the things that we did well, some of the things that we didn’t do so well and continue to game plan for game two. We got a couple days to prep for that.”
James also made a note of the Timberwolves’ physicality on both ends of the floor, though he added that he thinks the Lakers will be more prepared for it in Game 2.
“When you play the Minnesota team, you got to be physical. That’s what they bring to the table,” James said. “So maybe it took us one playoff game to now get a feel for the type of intensity, the type of physicality that’s going to be brought to the game, but that’s just the way they play. So we should be more than prepared for that on Tuesday night.”
Minnesota relishes the physicality of the game and they made sure to make Los Angeles feel their presence on every possession. There were several points throughout Game 1 where the Lakers didn’t handle the ball pressure well and that led to multiple easy baskets for the Timberwolves.
With Game 1 behind them, James and company have a chance to regroup and find ways to get better ahead of Game 2. While the purple and gold are far from out of it, they have a lot of work to do to even up the series.
LeBron James praises Anthony Edwards ahead of first round matchup
LeBron James has seen plenty of players come through the NBA throughout his career and he hasn’t been shy to praise the next generation of stars as his own basketball career winds down. Ahead of the first round matchup against the Timberwolves, James had high praise for Anthony Edwards.
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