The Los Angeles Lakers looked flat, overwhelmed, and entirely unprepared as they opened their first-round playoff series with a 117-95 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.
But if history has taught us anything about LeBron James, it’s that Game 1s are rarely must-win affairs in his mind.
Saturday’s blowout loss at Crypto.com Arena was just another chapter in what’s become a long-running postseason pattern for James. Now 31-24 in Game 1s across his playoff career, the four-time champion has often used series openers as a time to study his opponent-something he himself confirmed after the loss.
“We should be more than prepared on Tuesday night,” James told reporters.
“Sometimes, it takes a quarter, two quarters, a full game to get used to playoff basketball again.”
This mindset isn’t new. Back in 2018, after dropping Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals to the Boston Celtics, James explained his now-famous approach:
“For me, Game 1 has always been a feel-out game … I’ve got a good sense of the way they played me today and how I’ll play them going into Game 2,” he noted.
That Cleveland team would go on to win the series in seven.
Passive first half, second-half adjustments fall short
James showed flashes of life in the second half, but was unusually passive through much of the first. He ended the night with 19 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and three blocks, shooting 8-of-18 from the field. But the Lakers‘ lack of offensive flow and defensive communication rendered his late push irrelevant.
The Timberwolves, led by Anthony Edwards, ramped up the physicality in the second quarter and never looked back. Minnesota‘s defensive pressure rattled LA early, exposing a game plan that looked stagnant and lacking in adjustment as the night wore on.
“They were physical, and we weren’t ready for it,” James admitted.
LA made few strategic tweaks throughout the contest, and that cost them. Ball movement stalled, half-court sets crumbled under pressure, and the Lakers‘ supporting cast struggled to create their own looks.
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