Los Angeles Lakers talisman LeBron James believes the team must stay on edge for the play-in game against Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers registered a 128-117 win against Utah Jazz in their last match of the regular season on Sunday.
With this win, the Lakers finished the regular season in seventh place in the Western Conference standings, which doesn’t guarantee them the first-round berth for the postseason.
The Lakers will host the no.8 Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday and James feels it will be crucial for them to play at the top of their game.
A win against Timberwolves will help the Lakers lock their clash against Memphis Grizzlies but a loss on Tuesday against the Wolves would mean that they will have to face the winner of no.9 New Orleans Pelicans and no.10 Oklahoma City Thunder.
“Obviously it’s different because usually in the postseason you have multiple days of prep for a team. But you literally have one day to prep,” LeBron James said after scoring a team-high 36 points against Utah.
“But you’re kind of locked in on everything that needs to be done. For us, it’s just good that we don’t need to travel. We’ve traveled a lot lately. It’s good that we get to stay here, but we shouldn’t be comfortable. We have to stay on edge and get ready for the game.”
James admitted that the Lakers will have their work cut out against Minnesota Timberwolves as they have the players to hurt them.
“It’s a challenge versus everybody, and Minnesota is no different,” James said. “When you got guys like KAT [Karl-Anthony Towns] and Anthony Edwards, those guys can both go for 40 against you. … You have a very cerebral, solid point guard in Mike Conley who’s been in multiple playoff games. So, listen, we know what we’re getting ourselves into.”
Meanwhile, the Lakers played seven matches in the last 12 days of the regular season.
The team’s head coach Darvin Ham said on the workload of the players, “Be efficient with how we spend our non-game days. Make sure they’re getting the proper treatment between now and Tuesday,” Ham said.
“But they’re aware, man. These stakes are high and a lot of times, I don’t want to call it pressure, but the challenges of guys knowing what’s at stake can weigh on them a little bit. But here we are, we know what’s in front of us.”
