The playoffs got off to a rough start for the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite being heavy favorites, the team lost 117-95 to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
While it’s just one game, there have been some suggestions that the Lakers may not have been as good as their record indicated. The team’s best stretch of the season happened just before and the following weeks after the Luka Doncic trade.
The team went 20-4 and had the best defense in the NBA during that stretch. However, some people around the NBA think that it had more to do with luck than it did with how they were playing, according to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha.
“A big criticism of the Lakers during their 20-4 stretch, when they had the league’s best defense, was that they were getting lucky with shot variance, and that basically, they were allowing a bunch of open threes and teams were not making them,” Buha said on his YouTube channel.
Buha noted that he didn’t think the criticism was fair, but it is what he was hearing from others around the NBA. The Lakers’ defense was atrocious against the Timberwolves as they seemed incapable of slowing them down. They’ll have to be a lot better if they want to get back on track.
JJ Redick Says Lakers Weren’t Ready Physically
The Timberwolves are no strangers to being the underdog in a major playoff series and pulling off a surprise win. They did it last year against the Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers can’t take Minnesota lightly. Head coach JJ Redick credited the Timberwolves’ physicality as a big reason why they were able to outplay Los Angeles.
“They’re one of the best teams in basketball,” Redick told reporters after the loss. “It’s not to say our guys weren’t ready to withstand a playoff-level basketball game. We were mentally ready. I thought our spirit was right. I thought even when they made runs, our huddles were great. The communication was great.
“I’m not sure physically we were ready, if that makes sense. And really, when they started playing with a lot of thrust and physicality, we just didn’t respond to meet that.”
The Lakers aren’t known for being a very physical team, but they can’t allow the Timberwolves to push them around again.
LeBron James Doesn’t Seem Stressed
Though the Lakers got outclassed in Game 1, it’s far too early for them to panic.
During their championship run in 2019-20, they lost Game 1 in each of their three series in the Western Conference playoffs.
LeBron James is known to like to feel out a team in Game 1 before he has his best output. He doesn’t appear too concerned about the loss.
“Maybe it took us one playoff game to now get a feel for it and know what type of intensity, the type of physicality is going to be brought to the game,” James told reporters after the game. “But that’s just the way they play. So we should be more than prepared for that on Tuesday night.”
Going down 0-2 at home could be a disaster for the Lakers, so Tuesday might be a must-win game for them.
