The fans at Crypto.com Arena were certainly ready for Game 1 of the first-round playoff series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday. They brought a decent buzz and amount of energy to the arena, which hadn’t hosted a Game 1 involving the Lakers since 2012.
But even though they got out to a 28-21 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Lakers may not have been ready for what they were up against.
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Minnesota, with its bigger and stronger frontline, simply took it to the Lakers and controlled the backboards, which allowed it to get excellent looks, especially from 3-point range, on its second-chance possessions. It went an incredible 21-of-42 from 3-point range, and it also decisively outscored the Lakers in the paint and on the fast break, which led to a stunning 117-95 defeat for the Lakers.
LeBron James, who only scored 19 points, said after the game that perhaps it took his team a little while to get used to playoff basketball.
“Maybe it took us one playoff game to now get a feel for it,” he said. “We know the type of intensity, the type of physicality that’s gonna be brought to the game, but that’s the way they play. So we should be more than prepared for that on Tuesday night.
“… Sometimes it takes a quarter, two quarters, a full game to get used to playoff basketball once again.”
It’s no mystery now to Los Angeles what it has to deal with in the Timberwolves, a team that won just one fewer game than L.A. did during the regular season. But L.A. has no margin for error at this point. Game 2 on Tuesday is a virtual must-win game for it, because if it loses again, it will be down 0-2 with the following two games scheduled to take place in Minnesota.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: LeBron James on the Lakers getting used to playoff intensity in Game 1