LeBron James diagnosed what went wrong with the Los Angeles Lakers in a 116-104 Game 3 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, causing him to fall into a 1-2 series deficit.
The 39-year-old superstar highlighted his team’s carelessness towards basketball as the main perpetrator of road losses.
The Lakers spit the ball 19 times, and Minnesota converted it to a devastating 28 points.
Worse, the Timberwolves produced 21 rapid points, repeatedly punishing the Lakers in transition.
“Obviously, all you know is that 19 turnovers aren’t a good factor to win, and you give up 30 points from those sales. You know they had 20 points in transition,” James explained in a post-match comment.
Despite his decades of playoff experience, LeBron James acknowledged the difficulty of playoff basketball, emphasizing that certain mistakes are simply unacceptable in the postseason.
“In the postseason, obviously you’re not going to play the perfect game,” James said.
“But the more you make mistakes and mistakes, the more mistakes and things you can control — don’t give you the chance to be the best chance to win.”
James also worked on Luka Donsic’s sub-performance as the Slovenian star struggled with just 16 points in a 6-16 shooting while fighting stomach illness.
“Obviously, his illness is what affects our team,” James said.
“We understand what he brought to our team and what he’s done since the acquisition. It definitely hit our team a lot.”
As the Lakers turn to Game 4, rookie head coach JJ Redick faces pressure to adjust his strategy.
If Los Angeles even wants a series, then turning over and defensive failure cleanup is essential.