There was a troubling moment in the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ Game 2 win over the Timberwolves. Austin Reaves was running a 2-on-1 fastbreak and threw a backwards lob to LeBron James.
Five, six, seven years ago? LeBron snatches the ball out of the air and slams it home for the highlight of the night. Tuesday? He got a couple of inches off the ground, brought the ball down, and missed a layup.
It’s been a rough series for LeBron. He was better in Game 2 than he was in Game 1, when he was a non-factor and a minus-22 in the series-opening loss, but not by much. He finished the night with 21 points on 42.1% shooting, 11 rebounds and seven assists. He was more active on both ends, and his nine points in the second quarter helped extend the Lakers’ ultimately insurmountable lead.
The question for the Lakers is whether that’s good enough. Not just to win this series, but to make the run many fans, analysts and sportsbooks project them to make.
Is this version of LeBron James enough?
LeBron and the Lakers were carried by Luka Doncic, who, in between berating the officials, found the time to put up 31 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. Supporting players like Reaves and Rui Hachimura also bounced back from a bad Game 1.
This is why you trade for Luka. LeBron is 40 and in year 22 of his career. That he is slowing down isn’t surprising, even for the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. Now, Doncic is the all-world offensive talent the Lakers are built around and James picks his spots.
It could be enough to beat the Timberwolves. After a dismal performance to open the series, the Lakers defense was better in Game 2. They gave up fewer open 3s and held Minnesota to an offensive rating of 80 points per 100 possessions in the halfcourt, per Cleaning the Glass.
But the Timberwolves didn’t do themselves any favors. Anthony Edwards has been bad this series. He’s been an inefficient shooter (41% overall across two games) and after making some nice passes for nine assists in Game 1, had zero assists in Game 2.
Edwards is capable of greatness on this stage – as we saw against the Denver Nuggets in last year’s semi-finals and for moments against Luka’s Mavericks in the Western Conference finals – and of uncorking a classic in a hurry. In some ways, the Timberwolves are fortunate to be going back to Minnesota 1-1.
In what was billed as a marquee matchup of stars spanning generations, the stars have mostly fallen short of their billing.
It’s worth noting that LeBron has patiently been nursing an early-March groin strain that sidelined him for seven games. If he can recover and get somewhere closer to 100%, maybe he starts finishing those lobs at some point in these playoffs.
Even with the injury, LeBron was the orchestrator of the Lakers fastbreak in Game 2, was more engaged defensively and stuffed the boxscore. Maybe that version of LeBron is enough for the first round.
But it won’t be enough after that.
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Ranking the best players in the NBA
Yesterday, the FanSided NBA team rolled out a new update to the NBA99, ranking the 99 best players in the NBA right now. Plenty of players moved up and down from the last installment that we released in February, including inside the top four. You can check out the entire list here, as well as read out explanations for some of the tougher decisions:
NBA news roundup
- After missing more than a month because of deep vein thrombosis, Damian Lillard made his return on Tuesday night, but it didn’t help the Bucks even the series against the Pacers. Lillard finished with just 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Giannis Antetokounmpo assembled another dominant stat line: 34 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists. But it wasn’t enough.
- Tyrese Haliburton, who was voted as the NBA’s most overrated player by his peers, had 21 points and 12 assists in another unfriendly installment of Pacers-Bucks. "We don't like them, they don't like us, and that's just what it is,” he told reporters after the game.
- The Thunder beat the Grizzlies by 19 to take a 2-0 lead in the series. They have outscored their opponent by 70 points in two games.
The best lineups from Game 1 of Rockets-Warriors
There’s not another series where lineups are as important as Rockets vs Warriors. When these coaches decided to go big, go small, sacrifice shooting, sacrifice defense, etc., will help determine this series. With Game 2 tipping off Wednesday night, here were the top lineups from Game 1.
For Golden State
- Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, Kevon Looney, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski: Plus-9 in 2.7 minutes
- Butler, Draymond Green, Buddy Hield, Podziemski, Quinten Post: Plus-7 in 2.7 minutes
- Curry, Butler, Green, Moody, Podziemski: Plus-4 in 18.6 minutes
For Houston
- Steven Adams, Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, Amen Thompson: Plus-6 in 3.8 minutes
- Adams, VanVleet, Alperen Sengun, Smith, Thompson: Plus-3 in 0.7 minutes
- VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, Jalen Green, Sengun, Eason: Plus-2 in 4 minutes.