The Los Angeles Lakers need to take care of business when they head back home for Games 3 and 4 of the series.
Not many teams are able to dig themselves back from a 0-2 hole against the No. 1 seed, especially if they’re this exhausted.
That’s why Lakers guard Austin Reaves believes the team should go back to basics and focus on fundamentals, sort of.
reporter: “austin, what do you need to work on for game 3?”
austin reaves: “all the small things” pic.twitter.com/4V1TfrRdbg
— mike taddow 🆓 (@MikeTaddow) May 19, 2023
When asked about it, Reaves said the team needs to focus on “all the small things,” so fans obviously took it as a joke and flooded Twitter with Blink-182 references.
“It's hard to wake up
When the shades have been pulled shut
This house is haunted
It's so pathetic, it makes no sense at all…” Reporter: Austin, teams have come back from down 2-0. I think you may have taken the loss too hard.— Rocky Rhodes (@ABeersThree) May 19, 2023
Reporter: “Austin, whats your thoughts regarding your upcoming free agency?”
AR: “Things are better if I stay…so long and goodnight. So long and goodnight.”
— JEA 🇲🇽 (@JEABitW) May 19, 2023
He's watching and waiting
— Magic Crate of Meadowlark (@MagiCrateConten) May 19, 2023
Say it ain't so
— Josh (@joshhespen) May 19, 2023
Surprises let me know he cares
— Michael Ropines (@michaelropines) May 19, 2023
It might sound like a joke, but all the small things, true care, truth brings.
The Lakers did a better job of keeping their rivals off the offensive glass in the second game of the series, which obviously led to fewer second-chance points, which was one of the biggest points of emphasis in Game 1.
Also, going bigger with Jarred Vanderbilt and giving Rui Hachimura more minutes was more effective against Nikola Jokic, although Jamal Murray still got going late in the game with a 23-point fourth quarter.
The Nuggets have too many weapons and contributors and streaky scorers, and it’s quite hard to go against a team that’s playing with such high confidence.
There’s not a lot of time to make major adjustments or tweaks; the Lakers need to find an answer now.
More importantly, it’s all about actually getting back to basics, not just saying it.
As Mark Hoppus and Tom Delonge once said: Say it ain’t so…
NEXT: Shannon Sharpe Explains Why The Lakers Lost Game 2
