LeBron James wants the Los Angeles Lakers “super-duper locked in” when they face the Golden State Warriors in the second round of the NBA Playoffs. Of course Stephen Curry is the main reason.
Speaking to reporters on Monday after the Lakers’ practice, James compared the Warriors to the great San Antonio Spurs teams that would punish their opponents whenever they make mistakes. LeBron emphasized that the Dubs are more than capable of doing that since they have a player like Steph. Curry is just so hard to stop when he gets into rhythm.
James used Curry’s Game 7 performance against the Sacramento Kings as an example. The Warriors sharpshooter made plenty of seemingly wild shots that went in, in that game. Curry finished with a 20-of-38 shooting clip en route to his 50-point masterpiece.
“They’re right there at the top along with some of those great San Antonio Spurs teams where you just – if you make a mistake, they make you pay. It’s that simple,” James explained, per Mark Medina of The Sporting Tribune.
“So, we have to be locked in. They’re going to already do a great job of scoring anyways, even when you’ve got a body on top of them. You’ve seen some of the shots, the routine shots, that Steph was making in Game 7 that everybody was going crazy after. That’s just Steph. When you’re that great, you make tough shots like that. So, we’ve got to be locked in and not hurt ourselves.”
The Lakers did manage to beat the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round despite being the lower-seeded team. Not to mention that they won the regular-season series against the Warriors, 3-1. With that said, there’s plenty of reasons for the team to be confident about their chances.
However, as LeBron James said, they cannot be too overconfident and make mistakes. Especially since the Warriors are brimming with confidence after Stephen Curry’s big game and the upset against the third-seeded Kings.
The Lakers and Warriors play Game 1 of their NBA Playoffs series on Tuesday. All eyes will be on L.A. as they look to draw first blood against the Warriors.
