A lot of people expected the Los Angeles Lakers to begin their first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves with a win on Saturday. After all, the Lakers were playing at home in front of their loving fans at Crypto.com Arena and have more star power.
Instead, they got walloped after a promising first quarter to the tune of a 117-95 blowout loss. Minnesota beat them badly on the boards and put up big advantages in points in the paint and fast-break points while going 21-42 from 3-point range.
Game 2 will also be at Crypto.com Arena, and while a Game 2 played at home is hardly ever a must-win game for a team, this one will be for the Lakers. This sounds like an alarmist take, but a look at a few stats will show that they absolutely must emerge victorious in Game 2 if they are to advance to the next round.
The Lakers, who had a 50-32 record during the regular season, finished with a 31-10 home record, the third-best home record in the NBA. Only the Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers won more games at home this season. But L.A. didn’t exactly take care of business away from Crypto.com Arena. It was 19-22 on the road, and in fact, it has the worst road record among the eight Western Conference playoff teams.
One may think the team did better away from home after the Luka Doncic trade, but it didn’t. Since Doncic debuted, the Lakers are just 6-9 on the road, and in those games, their defensive rating was 117.9.
Furthermore, the Lakers have struggled at Target Center in Minneapolis in recent years. Dating back to the 2021-22 season, they have gone 1-7 in that building, with their lone win there coming on March 31, 2023. Even in that game, they trailed by as many as 13 points early in the third quarter before they went on a dizzying run to take control.
Simply put, the Lakers’ championship aspirations this season will die if they don’t win Game 2.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Why Game 2 is almost literally a must-win game for the Lakers
A lot of people expected the Los Angeles Lakers to begin their first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves with a win on Saturday. After all, the Lakers were playing at home in front of their loving fans at Crypto.com Arena and have more star power.
Instead, they got walloped after a promising first quarter to the tune of a 117-95 blowout loss. Minnesota beat them badly on the boards and put up big advantages in points in the paint and fast-break points while going 21-42 from 3-point range.
Game 2 will also be at Crypto.com Arena, and while a Game 2 played at home is hardly ever a must-win game for a team, this one will be for the Lakers. This sounds like an alarmist take, but a look at a few stats will show that they absolutely must emerge victorious in Game 2 if they are to advance to the next round.
The Lakers, who had a 50-32 record during the regular season, finished with a 31-10 home record, the third-best home record in the NBA. Only the Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers won more games at home this season. But L.A. didn’t exactly take care of business away from Crypto.com Arena. It was 19-22 on the road, and in fact, it has the worst road record among the eight Western Conference playoff teams.
One may think the team did better away from home after the Luka Doncic trade, but it didn’t. Since Doncic debuted, the Lakers are just 6-9 on the road, and in those games, their defensive rating was 117.9.
Furthermore, the Lakers have struggled at Target Center in Minneapolis in recent years. Dating back to the 2021-22 season, they have gone 1-7 in that building, with their lone win there coming on March 31, 2023. Even in that game, they trailed by as many as 13 points early in the third quarter before they went on a dizzying run to take control.
Simply put, the Lakers’ championship aspirations this season will die if they don’t win Game 2.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Why Game 2 is almost literally a must-win game for the Lakers
