“That was pretty much the ball game”- LeBron James blasts Lakers for slow start in Game 1
LeBron James has attributed the Los Angeles Lakers' 132-126 defeat in game one of their Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday to a slow start.
During the first half, Los Angeles were down by 18 points, a deficit that eventually proved to be insurmountable. Following the defeat, James discussed his team's slow start, pinpointing that as the reason why Los Angeles trail early in the series:
“It took us a half to get into the game,” LeBron said. “And that was pretty much the ballgame right there. They punched us in the mouth to start. … I know the game is won in 48 minutes, but they set the tone in 24 minutes, and we were playing catch-up for the next 24.”
During the first 24 minutes, LeBron James and Anthony Davis were the only two Lakers players to score in double digits. In contrast, the Nuggets had four members of their roster crack at least ten points, with Michael Porter Jr. (10), Nikola Jokic (19), Jamal Murray (17), and Bruce Brown (14) impressing.
The Lakers will need to figure out a way to get more scoring out of their role players as they look to even up the series.
LA Lakers coach Darvin Ham bemoans slow start
Following the loss to the Nuggets, LA coach Darvin Ham dissected his team's slow start in Los Angeles.
“My first inclination is not even a size factor; it’s a mobility factor,” Ham said. “We had multiple guys just standing around. No one is seeking out a hit. One person getting a hit. One person is selling out going after the basketball. A couple of times the ball just dropped to the ground and someone swooped in from their team and grabbed it.
Ham also lamented his team's efforts in closing out defensive possessions, ruing the amount of second-chance points Los Angeles gave up at the defensive end:
“A lot, a lot of long rebounds. We gave them way too many second-chance points on offensive rebound opportunities. And 50-50 balls for that matter. We have to be better in transition, and we can’t foul them. We have to be more disciplined showing our hands when we’re guarding those guys around the rim and in the post.”
The Nuggets won the rebounding battle by a margin of 17, which is unacceptable at this juncture of the postseason. Moreover, if one removes LeBron James' 12 rebounds and Anthony Davis' 10, the rest of the Lakers roster only secured eight rebounds throughout the contest.
Nevertheless, playoff series are long and arduous, so Los Angeles will be confident of their chances of progressing to the NBA Finals. However, the Purple and Gold will need to perform at a higher level in game two on Thursday (May 18).