The Los Angeles Lakers dropped Game 1 of their first-round playoff series with a 117-95 home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
LeBron James, making his 18th postseason appearance, addressed the loss by pointing to multiple breakdowns the Lakers must correct ahead of Game 2.
“Obviously, we’ve got to do a better job of controlling the controllables,” James said during his postgame interview. “Giving up 21 threes, giving up 20-plus fast break points, second chance points… those are things we can control.”
Luka Doncic led Los Angeles with 37 points in his playoff debut for the franchise, including 16 in the first quarter, but the Timberwolves took control with a 38-20 second quarter and never looked back.
Jaden McDaniels scored 25 points on 11-for-13 shooting, while Naz Reid came off the bench to hit six threes and finish with 23 points.
Minnesota shot 50 percent from beyond the arc and set a new franchise playoff record with 21 made threes.
“We know they have a lot of lasers, a lot of guys that can shoot from the perimeter,” James added. “We’ve got to do a better job of closing to bodies and getting out on shooters.”
Anthony Edwards came close to a triple-double with 22 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds as the Timberwolves outscored the Lakers 97-66 after the first quarter.
The Lakers were outscored 25-6 on fast break points, committed 13 turnovers that led to 18 Minnesota points, and allowed 29 assists on 44 made baskets.
“When you’re giving teams opportunities to get easy points, it’s hard to make that up,” James said. “Those are things we can control — by getting back, setting our defense, and making them score against our half-court defense.”
Despite the lopsided margin, Los Angeles did cut the deficit to 12 in the fourth quarter before Minnesota closed strong with timely threes from Edwards and Julius Randle.
James said the Timberwolves’ physicality was a factor and acknowledged it may have taken the team a full game to adapt.
“That’s just the way they play, so we should be more than prepared for that on Tuesday night,” he said. “We matched their physicality at times. It allowed us to get some turnovers, some extra possessions, and it allowed us to get back into the game.”
Minnesota outrebounded the Lakers 44-38 and got meaningful contributions from Mike Conley, Rudy Gobert, and Randle, who combined for 31 points.
“We’ve got to take care of the ball versus a team like this,” James emphasized. “If you turn it over, you’ve got to try your best to get back in transition and not allow them to get points.”
Game 2 will take place Tuesday night in Los Angeles, where the Lakers will look to even the series before it shifts to Minnesota.
“They took home court from us tonight as far as the series,” James said. “But we have an opportunity to even the series on Tuesday, and we have to play a much better game than we did today.”
