The Los Angeles Lakers weren’t able to go for the jugular as they dropped Game 2 to the Golden State Warriors in embarrassing fashion.
The defending champions knew they couldn’t go to Los Angeles down 0-2, so they hit the Lakers with everything they had which led to a lopsided 127-100 defeat for the purple and gold. Although Los Angeles was able to take a lead after the first quarter, their defense had no answers for Golden State the rest of the way as they simply couldn’t miss from deep.
Despite the blowout loss, LeBron James’ opinion on the team’s defense didn’t change.
“We still are. That doesn’t change. We’re still the best defensive team in the league, if not one of them. So that doesn’t change. That’s what we hang our hats on.
“But like I said, you give credit where credit is due. Klay was spectacular tonight. Draymond was great in the pocket pass with the rolls, things of that nature. JaMychal gave them big-time. Those 12 minutes felt like 24 minutes, 30 minutes. He was big-time for their team in the starting role tonight, too. You give credit, like I said where credit is due. We move on to the next game. But our defense, that’s where we hang our hat. That doesn’t stop no matter who we’re playing against.”
Throughout the playoffs, James and Los Angeles have been locking down opponents on the way to some hard-fought victories. Against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Lakers were able to frustrate them and force them into tough look after tough look en route to advancing to the second round.
Game 1 against Golden State was also a highlight reel of blocks, deterred shots and excellent rotations for a full 48 minutes. However, that kind of effort can wear on a team and it looked like the Lakers just didn’t have enough juice to keep up with the Warriors in Game 2.
Golden State is terrifying to play against because of their ability to put up points in a hurry, so James also acknowledged that the Lakers have to keep scoring as well as play excellent defense to take another game. It’s so much easier said than done, but L.A. has proven it has what it takes to win against the champs.
LeBron James receives no MVP votes for first time in career
Year 20 has been a revelation for James who hasn’t shown too many signs of wearing down. However, because of the Lakers’ poor record and his injuries, he didn’t receive an MVP vote for the first time in his career.
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