Lakers will seek closeout defense
specialists in Curry and Klay Thompson who always seem a swish away from catching fire.
Jordan Poole, who has struggled since the end of Game 1, had two 40-point games this season.
They’ve got experience with forward Draymond Green and coach Steve Kerr giving advice on the sideline, and, probably most importantly, they’ve got two more home games if the series reaches seven games.
“You definitely draw on those experiences,” Kerr told reporters Tuesday. “… For me and what I shared with the team and what they shared with each other, the vets, is that game to game, everything changes. You just focus on the next game. … And when you do that, the momentum shifts in your favor.”
James said the Lakers have been improving throughout the playoffs. They led 3-1 against the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round, and although the Lakers were routed in Game 5, the team responded with a massive effort in Game 6.
This round, James said, he believes the Lakers’ intensity in their first potential closeout game needs to be much higher.
“We’ll be ready. One thing about when you play Golden State, you don’t have an opportunity to relax. You just don’t,” James said after Game 4. “So I’m not worried about us going in there comfortable. You just can’t do it versus Golden State. It’s not possible.”
The Lakers could have stumbled into some motivation.
Although the first four games have been devoid of off-court controversy, Kerr used his postgame news conference and his media availability Tuesday to talk about the Lakers and their flopping.
“I give the Lakers credit for the plays they’ve been able to sell,” Kerr told reporters Tuesday.
The Warriors were called for three illegal screens in the fourth quarter of Game 4, with Kerr particularly upset for one called on Green with Lonnie Walker IV sliding into the courtside seats after the contact.
“Really, really a tough call for us,” Kerr said Tuesday. “It’s a blatant flop.”
Regardless, the series, for the first time since it began in San Francisco last week, can come to an end, the Lakers having a chance to be the first Western Conference team to eliminate a Kerrcoached Warriors team in the playoffs.
It will take just one more victory — one more night of wins, one more night of stops. The Lakers have done it three times. Now they have up to three chances to do it again.