[ad_1]
On Sunday night, the Los Angeles Lakers had just taken a 2-0 lead over the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals, but you could hardly tell if you heard the team speak.
Yes, the Lakers were excited about Anthony Davis’ incredible ringing of the bell. Yes, doing it with the Kobe Bryant-inspired Black Mamba jerseys was a cool tribute. But they also knew they had let the Nuggets get back in the game and almost lost it as a result. They may have been happy with the way the night turned out, but they weren’t satisfied with how they got there.
“We have to finish the game better. Eight up with a couple of minutes to go, we have to close the game better, ”said Lakers guard Alex Caruso.
“This is a whole basketball team we’re playing against,” added Lakers head coach Frank Vogel. “The cables don’t mean anything. You have to play 48 minutes. Fortunately, we were able to prevail down the stretch. “
Even Davis himself said he wasn’t going to spend a lot of time celebrating what he admitted was the best chance of his career before concentrating on preparing to be better in Game 3. He criticized himself and the team for being too careless with him. game. ball – they had 23 turnovers in the game – and for not valuing each possession the way they need to to win playoff games.
“The work is definitely not over until we can win a ring. That’s when it’s done, and that’s when the task is completed, ”Davis said. “It was a big shot, we’ll celebrate for a couple of hours, but this team struggled. They could have easily won this game and we still have to prepare for 3. ”
Aside from ball safety, the Lakers also clearly suffered disappointment at both ends in the second half. After racking up a 10-point lead at halftime, they seemed to stop defending so hard and to stop playing with the effort required on offense that it took them to build their lead, settling for jump after jump. In the first half, the Lakers took 15 of their 43 field goal attempts within five feet of the rim. In the second half, they only took five of their 40 shots from that distance. Part of that is a credit to the Nuggets, but part of that is the Lakers, especially LeBron James, who are a little happy in the jump.
The good news for the Lakers is that they got the win anyway, the first this postseason they’ve been able to survive a game in which James was negative plus-minus. Was not that bad in this one, he still had 26 points and 11 rebounds, but he turned the ball six times against just four assists, and it seems highly likely that he will be better in Game 3 after watching the tape for this one.
The fact that the Lakers were able to win despite James’ lackluster performance (by their standards) was a credit to Davis, who James admitted he needed to get the team to the finish line at this one.
“To be completely honest, shit, in the second half, I leaned on him,” James said of Davis’ 31-point winning performance. “And he brought us home.”
And getting this win despite their sloppy play can be a blessing in disguise for the Lakers coaching staff – they still have a 2-0 lead, but the disappointment of the second half likely gave them leave to try their film sessions between. games like they had suffered a loss. The team itself already seemed to be talking like they were basically beaten, and if this locks them in again, maybe they can avoid giving the Nuggets a game. Because the only proven way to not let Denver come back from a 3-1 lead this postseason is to not let them win any.
“Championship teams play 48-minute games and we are working towards that,” Caruso said.
If they want to make sure this is a short series against the Nuggets, they will have to.
Notes and updates
- The Lakers’ injury report is the same as the last game. LeBron, as he has been throughout the postseason, is likely to have groin pain, while Dion Waiters has doubts with his own groin pain.
- Because the Lakers apparently hate fun, they didn’t list Talen Horton-Tucker (destroyed by Anthony Davis) as likely.
Fortunately, the newbie says he’s fine.
Game 3 will begin at 6:00 pm Pacific Time and, like the rest of the Western Conference Finals, will be televised exclusively on TNT.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast at iTunes, Spotify, Stapler or Google podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.
[ad_2]
