In last season’s Game 1 against the Wolves, the Lakers admitted they weren’t prepared for what was awaiting them. The result was them falling behind the eight ball from the jump and being forced to unsuccessfully play catch-up.
Given that the team awaiting them in this year’s first round was a very physical Rockets team, there was even more importance on coming out of the gates prepared and ready for a gritty battle. This time around, the Lakers learned from their mistakes and opened the series on the right
foot with an impressive win.
After the game, one word was repeated throughout the pressers and the locker room.
“Just thought we were really poised as a team,” head coach JJ Redick said. “We had a great next-play mentality. It wasn’t a perfect game. None of these games are going to be perfect. [We] got some contributions from a lot of people in a lot of different ways and made enough winning plays despite the turnovers and the offensive rebounds.”
“Just our ability to stay poised,” Marcus Smart added on what impressed him most about the team. “You’re playing against a really good team out there who does a really good job of mucking up the game and seeing who’s the toughest team, right? It got a little chippy out there. A couple of technicals called, and I think, for me, for this team to be able to stay as poised as we did, I think that was the part for me that really stood out and I was like, ‘OK, I think we’re ready and it’s going to be a good one.’ As long as we can continue to do that, I think we’ll be in good shape.”
The poise the Lakers showed, especially given the complete context of their situation and the moment, was impressive, to say the least. Despite nearly everyone being thrust into a role they’re largely unfamiliar with, they never wavered throughout Saturday’s contest.
The only slip came late in the second quarter when a series of turnovers and empty possessions allowed Houston back into the game. A 3-pointer from Reed Sheppard to open the third quarter briefly gave the visitors the lead, but LA not only steadied the ship, but seized back control of the game to open up the lead once more.
“I thought the second quarter got away from us a little bit with the turnovers,” Luke Kennard said. “Got a little sloppy there but we stayed poised and organized throughout that entire game. Credit to everybody – coaches, teammates, everybody – for just believing in each other throughout the entire course of the game. Overall, like I said, it feels good to get the first one.”
While this is just one game, the tone can be set in the first game of a series. Last year, LA set a bad one and could never really shake that vibe. On Saturday, the inverse was true with hopefully far better consequences.
“I think our composure,” LeBron James said, “even when they made a run at the end of that second to cut the lead to two, we came in that third quarter and was able to like withstand that pretty much play the game we wanted to play. We had a great game plan and we tried to execute that as close to 48 minutes as possible.”
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