After a midseason loss to the Clippers, Lakers coach JJ Redick and LeBron James sounded a bit of an alarm, both coach and leader saying the Lakers didn’t have the luxury to just be pretty good.
The Lakers, if they wanted to win tough games, needed to be great.
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“It’s just, we don’t have a huge margin for error,” Redick said.
“That’s how our team is constructed,” James said. “We don’t have room for error.”
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But in a single phone call, when the Lakers and Dallas Mavericks agreed to a blockbuster trade, the Lakers got the ultimate margin mover in Luka Doncic.
But Friday night in Minneapolis in Game 3, that cushion came crashing in, Doncic far from himself because of an illness that had him working out on the court an hour before the game.
With Doncic off, the mistakes took on more weight. The free throws that rattled out? Bruising. The offensive rebounds allowed? Crushing. The lapses in attention that led to turnovers? Back-breaking.
Lakers guard Luka Doncic can’t block a late three-pointer by Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards in Game 3 on Friday night. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The Lakers weren’t good enough Friday, losing 116-104 in a game they had their chances to win in the fourth before Minnesota slammed the door to take a 2-1 first-round playoff series lead.
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Doncic, a monster in the first quarter of the first two games of the series, looked badly uncomfortable, starting one for six from the field.
After he checked out for the first time, he put on his warmup jacket and pulled the hood onto his head. He wasn’t able to make it out of the locker room at halftime and missed the first 50 seconds of the third quarter, checking back in with a shirt under his uniform.
Lakers star LeBron James splits the Minnesota defense to score on a layup in the first half of Game 3. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
He scored 17 points on six-of-16 shooting, but he could never create the kinds of advantages that have given the Lakers room to maneuver.
James, though, was sublime. Still stimulated by the chance to silence a road playoff crowd, he played with his most energy all series. He pointed over at the Lakers bench after he scored on a mid-range jumper when the Lakers executed a play called for him early. He held his three-point celebration in the fourth quarter when he shot the Lakers back into the game. He flew for rebounds and moved his feet on defense in a 41-minute game where he scored 38 points. It was the most points ever scored in an NBA playoff game by a player over 40.
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Austin Reaves, who struggled shooting in Game 2, hit big shots, keeping the Lakers in things despite the mistakes rapidly mounting making things tougher.
The most fatal wounds were caused by 19 Lakers turnovers leading to 28 Minnesota points. They ranged from multiple 24-second violations to lost rebounds, to a ball squirting through James’ hands. One even came when Rudy Gobert, Doncic’s favorite target, poked the ball loose leading to a McDaniels layup.
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Twenty-four of McDaniels 30 points came in the paint.
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While the mistakes the Lakers made were brutal, the things they couldn’t control hurt too. Their lack of rim protection got badly exploited by Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels, who consistently went over the Lakers defense.
The combination of the shrunken margins has put the Lakers’ season a step closer to conclusion, the team now needing to steal a win Sunday in the shortest turnaround in the series.
Despite being sick, Doncic still played 40 minutes. Reaves and James each played 41. They’ll need to recapture their energy from Game 2 on light rest to avoid facing elimination in Game 5.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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