Lakers, Thunder featured in NBA Playoffs doubleheader on TSN
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Western Conference powers take centre stage in an NBA Playoffs doubleheader on TSN on Tuesday.
MVP favourite and Canadian superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, who are seeking to take a 2-0 series lead over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Oklahoma City overwhelmed Memphis in their first game on Sunday, opening an NBA Playoffs-record 35-point first-half lead before finishing the 131-80 blowout.
Later Tuesday night, LeBron James, Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers seek to even the series against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the late game.
Defensive issues hounded the Lakers in their 117-95 defeat in Game 1, as Minnesota shot 50 per cent from three-point range en route to an easy victory.
Grizzlies try to recover from Game 1 blowout
Nothing went right for the Grizzlies in Game 1 - as evidenced by the final score. There's a lot they'll need to improve upon if they're going to make Game 2 a competitive one.
The team shot 17.6 per cent from three-point range, 34.4 per cent from the field and committed more turnovers (22) than assists (18).
The Thunder, who finished the regular season with a league-best 68-14 record, took control with a 20-0 run that gave them a 55-22 lead in the second quarter.
“I just felt like after that, the energy just kind of wasn’t there and we were just trying to talk to ourselves to get back into the game," Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant said.
The Grizzlies were quick to turn the page after a difficult scenario allowed for the result. "We will never play that bad again," Morant said after the loss.
Oklahoma City entered Sunday's game on a seven-day break, having played their regular-season finale on April 13, while the Grizzlies had to fight through two play-in games - the second of which was on Friday, 36 hours before the series opener.
“They played 36 hours ago and had an emotional game, had to turn around and play at noon today, which is a really tough turnaround,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. "So they’re going to be better Tuesday. So I thought we did a good job. But I don’t think we can expect that from them (again). You know they’re going to play a lot better than that."
Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis' second-leading scorer in the regular season at 22.2 points per game over 74 games, finished with four points on 2-of-13 shooting with three turnovers. An improvement from him on Tuesday would push the Grizzlies in the right direction.
Lakers seek bounce back effort vs. Timberwolves
The Lakers finished with the No. 3 seed, but given the tight standings in the Western Conference, they finished only one game better than the No. 6 seed Timberwolves.
Now, given the loss on home court in Game 1, Los Angeles desperately needs a win Tuesday to avoid falling in a deep hole in the series.
“This Minnesota team, they’re going to be physical,” James said after the loss. “That’s what they bring to the table. It took us one game ... [to] understand that. They took homecourt advantage from us tonight, but we have to control the controllables, and if we do that, we’ll have a much better chance to win than we did tonight.”
Los Angeles shook the NBA landscape when they completed a trade on Feb. 2 to acquire Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks. The team went 22-13 down the stretch after adding the star guard.
While Doncic chipped in a game-high 37 points in the Game 1 loss, defensive issues plagued the Lakers.
Los Angeles forced only 10 turnovers in the loss, and allowed the Timberwolves – who shot 37.7 per cent from three on the season – to shoot 50 per cent from beyond the arc.
“I think the first quarter, we played the way we play,” Doncic said. “I think we played physical. Everyone was locked in, and then we just kind of let go of the rope. So we’ve got to be way more physical.”
Minnesota, who fell in the Western Conference Final a year ago, isn't taking anything for granted after the big win on the road in the series opener either.
“It means Game 1,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said when asked what the win meant for the team. “We know it’s going to be a long series. We’re not under any assumption that it’s going to be this type of game in Game 2. It’ll be a completely different game. We got a lot left. A lot of meat on the bone out there. A lot of things. I know we can do better.”