Los Angeles – Even according to his standards, the pre -match press conference of the Lakers Coach JJ Redick before the opening of the series of his team against the Timberwolves of Minnesota brought an even more serious tone on Saturday than usual.
The typically tamed Redick was not as long with its answers to media members. His answers were not as detailed. He sometimes spoke in fragmented sentences. His trembling leg seemed even more intense than usual when he asked questions.
Whether it is pre-match before its first eliminatory match as a NBA coach, or simply as a eagerness for the match on Saturday to kick after an accumulation of a week, the Redick’s pre-match speech has experienced a different feeling of most.
But even in the aftermath of the loss of the Lakers’ eruption 1 eruption, the post-match tenor went from the pre-match considerably.
Redick’s responses were more in -depth and detailed. He even recognized that the Lakers expected the Timberwolves to trample and Blitz Luka Doncic (37 points) more, which did not materialize, limiting the possibilities of four for three for the Lakers and a Doncic factor by recording a single pass.
Redick’s behavior was apparently more settled despite the obvious disappointment – the reflection of the way his team digested the Timberwolves by taking the home advantage of the Lakers in the series of seven best, with the match 2 scheduled for Tuesday evening in Crypto.com Arena.
“The atmosphere (in the locker room) was that you do not win or do not lose (an eliminatory series in a match,” said goalkeeper Austin Reaves. “We have the opportunity to go up the series on our field at home, then compete for two games on their home.
“You never lose the (series) after the first game, the second match, the third match, to be honest. You must be beaten four times, you have to win four times. So that is the prospect. We know that we have not played very well. We have not played according to our standards. And we are better.”
The striker Lebron James added: “They won the field (advantage) from us with regard to the series, but we have the possibility of the same Tuesday series. And we have to play a much better game than we (Saturday). Control the controls, and if we do, we will give ourselves a much better chance of winning than we.”
There were several factors that the Lakers mentioned to explain why the Timberwolves controlled most of the match 1, in particular by ahead of the 76-41 Lakers from the end of the first quarter at the end of the third to transform the advances at the start of 20-12 of the Lakers in an advance of 88-61 for Minnesota.
There was the record for the playoffs of the Timberwolves 21 3 points franchise.
The Minnesota also scored 23 second chance points and collected 25 fast break points.
But a subject of common discussion was that the Lakers did not correspond to the physics of the Timberwolves during the important stretches of the game.
“This Minnesota team, it will be physical,” said James. “This is what they bring to the table. Maybe it took us an eliminatory match to now have an idea and know what type of intensity, the type of physicity, will be brought to the game. But that’s just the way they play. We should therefore be more than prepared for this on Tuesday evening.”
A point of encouragement for Lakers: they have reduced their deficit to 12 times several times once they have picked up their physique.
“Sometimes it takes a quarter, two quarters, a full match to get used to eliminatory basketball once again,” said James. “So that shouldn’t be surprising on Tuesday).”
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
