The Los Angeles Lakers saw their playoff push hit hard in a big Game 4 loss, and LeBron James didn’t run away when things went wrong.
Despite living in an accessible location early on, LA’s nightlife quickly unraveled due to one major problem – currency exchange.
“We did a good job in the second quarter and got the lead. Then we had a few turnovers which was our kryptonite tonight,” James said postgame. “Obviously we know that when we get to the series we have to protect the ball when we face them and not have too many pick-sixes.
“What we did all night. It started with, obviously, my performance was not acceptable. But we’re going to do a better job that Wednesday. We understand that offensive rebounds and pick-sixes are not going to be good for our ballclub. Give them credit where they’re due. They won tonight.”
The Lakers turned the ball over 23 times as a team, with James facing eight – his highest total of the postseason.
While some of that may have come from his hard work after logging big minutes in Game 3, the overall sloppiness seemed to be beyond his control.
James made it clear that defense wasn’t the problem, it was all happening on the other side of the floor.
“Defense wasn’t our problem tonight. It was offense. We turned the ball over 24 times to score 30 points. Defense wasn’t our problem. It was offense,” James said.
“We knew and understood that if we want to win this series we have to protect the ball and we have to defend again and obviously we brought that difficulty, which we did tonight. I’m not worried about that. But the turnover killed us from start to finish.”
Frustration spilled again late in the third quarter when Deandre Ayton was ejected following a foul, a decision that didn’t sit well with the Lakers’ veteran leader.
“That was funny,” James said.
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