The Los Angeles Lakers weathered the storm in the first round vs. the Houston Rockets.
Even without Kevin Durant, the Rockets should’ve beaten JJ Redick’s team, which was missing Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic.
Now, with Reaves back but no timetable for Doncic’s return, LeBron James and company will test their luck against the defending champions.
Talking to Steve Nash on their “Mind The Game” podcast, the four-time NBA champion opened up on his team’s approach to the Western Conference semifinals.
LeBron James admits Lakers are “undermanned” vs. Thunder
“It’s the same approach as last series,” James said. “We’re undermanned, and we’re the underdog, and we understand that, so you heighten that even more by like five, because of what (the Thunder) bring to the table.”
James knows the Lakers will have to be almost perfect to take down such a deep team like the Oklahoma City Thunder, especially with their best player still on the shelf.
“We can’t shortcut the details. In order for us to give ourselves a chance to win games, we cannot shortcut the details in the game plan. We know we can’t stop everything, they’re great, but if we can control the controllables … then we can give ourselves a chance,” added James.
There’s still a chance that Doncic can return from his grade 2 hamstring strain at some point in the season. However, the Lakers need to put themselves in a position where Doncic’s return actually makes sense.
They probably shouldn’t risk him aggravating his injury if they fall to a 0-3 deficit, and stealing one game away from Crypto.com Arena will be crucial to make it even a possibility.
The Lakers were peaking at the right time before this unfortunate string of late-season injuries.
Now, they’re pretty much playing with house money, and while the defending champions should be heavily favored in this series, teams with nothing to lose are always dangerous.
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