The Los Angeles Lakers tried their best but a place in the play-in tournament is all they could manage after winning 128-117 against Utah Jazz in the final regular season game. They will now play in the play-in tournament game against eighth-place Minnesota Timberwolves.
The winner of the Timberwolves versus Lakers game will face the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of playoffs. There isn’t much time to spare for both teams as the play-in tournament is just a single day away from the end of the regular season. LeBron was very charged up after the win against the Jazz as he was sharing his thoughts in a post-game interview.
“We get Minnesota next, that’s all. We prep, we start playoff prep tomorrow for them and we get ready for Tuesday,” LeBron James said.
He shared that it is difficult for the players to adjust as there isn’t much time for the players to prepare for the play-in clash. A single day and a half day of training before they head on to the big game.
“Obviously it’s different because usually in the postseason you have multiple days to prep for a team. You literally have one day to prep and a half a day on game day that you can kind of lock in on everything that needs to be done,” he added.
However, LeBron was happy that they don’t have to travel and won’t have that fatigue going into this game as the game is scheduled in Los Angeles. LeBron shared that the team can’t get too complacent and must put in the hard work against Minnesota.
“We’ve traveled a lot lately. So, it’s good that we get to stay here, but that doesn’t make us… We shouldn’t be comfortable. We gotta stay on edge and get ready for the game,” he announced.
It will be a huge ask from the Lakers to put up a big show against the Timberwolves and vice versa. Both teams will be under pressure as one bad move may hamper their current campaign. The Wolves are very dominant with their superstars Karl Anthony-Towns and Rudy Gobert along with one of the league’s best young talents in Anthony Edwards.
LeBron is aware of the talent that the Wolves have and he understands that it will be a tough encounter for them, especially in the play-ins. He rates Mike Conley very highly due to his experience in the playoffs.
“When you got guys like Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, those guys can both go for 40 against you, and put multiple pressure on you. They got a very cerebral solid point guard in Mike Conley, who’s been in multiple playoff games. So, we know what we’re getting ourselves into,” the Lakers talisman continued.
The Lakers have a negative record against the Timberwolves this season. They have faced them thrice this season and have won only once as the record is 2-1 in their favour. However depending on the changing scenarios every month, the Lakers were fortunate to win the most recent game against the Timberwolves on March 31. So there’s definitely a lot of hope for LeBron and the Lakers but it will be a very tough clash between two top teams.
