Los Angeles, CA – April 19: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers drives to the basket against … More
The NBA Playoffs are upon, and so is the first-round series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Here are a few takeaways, which might mean something, or might mean nothing, after Game 1 in which the Wolves stole home court advantage, with a 117-95 victory in Los Angeles.
Three-point barrage
The Wolves, who on paper match up fairly horrible with these Lakers, decided to even the score by applying simple mathematics. They launched 42 attempts from behind the arc, making 21 of them.
Naz Reid came off the bench to knock down six of them, and the Wolves appeared firmly ready to launch those shots immediately off of catches.
This opened up the floor for the Wolves, leading in particular Jaden McDaniels to assert himself, as he went for 25 points, primarily off interior scoring.
Does this mean something? Yes. The Wolves came in with a plan to optimize the use of the floor, and stole an essential game off the basis of that plan. Even if they lose Game 2, the series will swing back to Minnesota holding the upper hand.
LeBron James looked injured or.. old?
Look, we’ve all said this one time or another before. And usually, James proves us wrong in follow-up games.
He’s going to need to do that again, because his Game 1 outing was fairly concerning.
Despite a stellar all-around line of 19 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and three blocks, the 40-year-old James looked a step slow on multiple defensive rotations, and frequently failed to blow by his defender, instead settling for perimeter shots, and jacking up the type of shots that the Wolves want him to take.
It could be age, or it could be the hip flexor strain he sustained against the Houston Rockets on April 11th. It could be a combination of both. Whatever the cause, James looked physically limited.
Does this mean something? Not yet, but if James has another game like this, where it looks as though he can’t follow the speed of the game, then that becomes a huge subplot for the series.
Jaxson Hayes looks unplayable
Head coach JJ Redick gave Jaxson Hayes exactly eight minutes of playing time last year, realizing very quickly this might not be a series wherein he can get a lot of minutes.
That leaves the Lakers with very little size, and they might need to rotate James, Rui Hachimura, and Dorian Finney-Smith at center to survive.
Regardless, this means relinquishing a ton of rebounds, particularly on the defensive end.
The Lakers did swoop in for 13 offensive rebounds in Game 1, but a portion of those seemed random, so you have to wonder if they can duplicate that effort going forward. They’d almost have to, if they wish to even the playing field on the glass.
Does this mean something? Absolutely. If the Lakers can’t compete on the glass in this series, and they’re forced to play at a major size disadvantage up front, that means they’ll have to use their wings far more physically than anticipated to potentially get through this series.
Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.
