Ok, still got the Lakers in 6. Still, the level of intensity needs to ratchet up. Significantly. Fast. Coach sounded like he though the group was too loose, they play loose on game 2 may be time to switch the line up mojo.
1) Luka showed up, took what the defense gave him, and couldn’t do it alone. He was in himself over his low assists but that’s a collaborative stat. Someone gotta make a shot.
2) Reaves needs to be better. You might not score a lot, you need to do more with your minutes or risk losing them. Reaves looked passive and disengaged for the first half. Didn’t do much to change my opinion in the second half although he was better.
3) Rui needs to play with more urgency in offense. Started hot, faded after that and never recaptured his groove. Needs to rebound better.
4) Vando needs to play more in this series. Especially if Reaves and Rui can’t rise to the challenge of playoff intensity. I understand how this impacts the scoring but we can’t be playing slow and mellow against this team. The T’Wolves have steadily improved over the course of the season. That’s not a fluke. Julius is healthy and motivated to get a big contract this summer, Ant Man would love to knock Luka and LeBron out of the playoffs, and McDaniels is legit. We need a guy like Vando who has size, speed and a chip on his shoulder.
5) Hayes needs to rise to the challenge or we should start DFS. Me? I might not wait another game but the fan of hard work in me believed he deserves a shot. Problem is he seemed so willowy out there, I don’t mind him picking up fouls, he needs to play a lot harder and not let contact come to him. He needs to seek it out. Play with the intent of knocking a dude on his ass.
Lose game 2 and this could go south real fast.