There is no easy matchup in these Western Conference playoffs and that is certainly the case for the Los Angeles Lakers drawing the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round. But regardless of who they play, the Lakers have a trio of playmakers in Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves that no team can match.
This will be Reaves’ third trip to the playoffs, but first without having to go through the Play-In Tournament first. And with a whole week off before their postseason journey begins, Reaves is ready to get back on the court asap.
“I would say high,” Reaves said of his excitement level. “We’ve had about a week off and you’re just itching to get out on the floor to compete. We had a couple of good days today and yesterday and we gotta keep building that until Saturday when we take the court.”
One of the biggest challenges in facing the Timberwolves is that they are one of the best defenses in the NBA. But Reaves feels the Lakers have to play smart to combat the aggression that Minnesota brings on that end of the court.
“I think we just gotta play with IQ,” Reaves added. “Their guys are super aggressive defensively and cause a lot of havoc on that end of the floor. We just gotta, like I said, play with IQ, patience and don’t turn the ball over.”
But more important than anything, in Reaves’ mind, is that the Lakers have to play hard every single possession. Reaves remembers the Lakers’ playoff loss last year in which they led at halftime of every game of their five-game series with the Denver Nuggets and he doesn’t want a repeat.
“You just gotta play hard as shit,” Reaves noted. “Every possession, you win by the smallest margins and you lose by the smallest margins in the playoffs, as we could tell from last year. Obviously it’s not the same team, but if you go back and watch last year’s games, one thing here and there could’ve changed the whole series and we would’ve had an opportunity to play in the second round.
“But we didn’t do those, so we gotta do that every single game. We can’t take possessions off. At the end of the day, we got a group of guys that are just ready to go to war. There’s a difference in being ready to go to war by yourself than being ready to go to war with your team. We’re locked in as a group and ready to go compete.”
This Lakers team has a chance to make a real run in the postseason and Reaves understands that, but taking down the Timberwolves won’t be easy. Every single possession matters and Reaves wants to make sure the Lakers treat it that way, otherwise they will be heading home after the first round for a second consecutive year.
JJ Redick discusses biggest key for Lakers to defeat Timberwolves
As Austin Reaves noted, the Timberwolves are an extremely aggressive defensive team that creates havoc and turnovers. In the eyes of head coach JJ Redick, limiting those turnovers is absolutely crucial to success in this series.
Redick spoke about non-negotiables the Lakers have in terms of dealing with the disruption of the Timberwolves’ defense and the importance of being able to get up shots as opposed to turnovers. Redick added that Minnesota has some of the best individual defenders in the league so the Lakers’ ability to limit turnovers is one of the biggest keys in the series.
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