The Los Angeles Lakers got off to a strong start against the Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of their first round playoff series. But the defending NBA Champions would take over late in the second and into the third quarter to strike first and take a series lead despite the best efforts of Anthony Davis and LeBron James.
Davis was excellent with 32 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks while LeBron finished with 27 points and eight assists, but the Lakers didn’t get enough from their role players offensively. On the other side of the court, it was the Lakers’ failures to clear the glass that did them in.
The Nuggets grabbed 15 offensive rebounds leading to 18 second-chance points and LeBron knows the Lakers as a team have to do better about getting bodies on the Nuggets’ frontcourt.
“Just get bodies, hit bodies,” James said. “It’s challenging at times, obviously Aaron Gordon does a great job playing that dunker spot and we get caught in rotations sometimes and a small is on him. Obviously Joker and his ability to rebound his misses or just rebound in general, it’s a big team. They got a big frontcourt with MPJ, Joker and Aaron Gordon. Just got to do a better job of trying to get hits and collectively rebound on the defensive glass.”
Denver is an extremely potent offensive team so to allow them to get that many more extra possessions is a recipe for disaster. LeBron understands this and while he feels the Lakers played well at times in Game 1, he knows they need to be better as they just don’t have much room for error to take down the Nuggets.
“We could’ve been better. I thought we played some good ball tonight but we could’ve been better,” LeBron added. “We just don’t have much room for error against this Denver team, especially on their home floor. They’re just a team that’s been through everything, they’re obviously the defending champions.
“So you got to execute, you got to make shots, you got to defend and then you can’t give up extra possessions. Like you said, them having 18 second-chance points when you’re defending already versus a high powered offensive team, that’s already gonna be difficult in its own right.”
There are some positives to take away for the Lakers from this first game, but it is well known that the Nuggets are a tough matchup as evidenced by the nine consecutive wins they have over L.A. LeBron said before the series that the Lakers need to play mistake-free basketball to challenge the Nuggets and they didn’t quite do that in Game 1. Now the pressure will be on to make those adjustments in Game 2.
LeBron James breaks down how Game 1 got away from Lakers
The Lakers did well early, building up a double-digit lead before the Nuggets would come back. LeBron James felt Denver was able to carry on the momentum they built up at the end of the first half into the third quarter where they took control.
“I just thought we were playing good basketball, we came out and got some good shots and were able to connect on some shots and build up a 12-point lead,” James said. “Then obviously they cut that lead to three at the half with the spurt that they had at the end of the second quarter which led into the third and they rode that momentum to get to a double-digit lead for themselves.”
James added that the Lakers must do a better job of paying attention to the little details if they want to take down the Nuggets and make a playoff run.
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