Lakers’ LeBron James makes ‘matchup’ confession on ugly playoff loss to Timberwolves

Thanks to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Los Angeles Lakers’ offseason began earlier than expected, and Lakers star LeBron James opened up about the five-game series loss on the latest episode of the ‘Mind the Game’ podcast.

James, whose third-seeded Lakers were eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs by the sixth-seeded Timberwolves, said that Minnesota proved to be a “worthy opponent.”

“Obviously, I’ve come to grips with it now, with it being quite a few days after the fact and watching a lot of other series now and seeing how they unfold,” James told Steve Nash. “But you said it, man. I’ve had all those emotions … We entered the season well, but like you said, when it comes to the postseason, man, matchups sometimes just — it doesn’t determine how well of a regular season you had. It’s the matchups, and we ran into a damn good matchup. A team that’s been battle-tested, a team that’s hungry, a team that — a lot of youth but also experience at the same time — and another team that’s trying to make the next step. They were a worthy opponent, that’s for sure.”

It was clear from the get-go that the Lakers’ roster was being ideally constructed this past season. From the start of the year, there were concerns about the team’s depth, and then Anthony Davis and Max Christie were traded to the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic midseason, a move that was widely praised but created a giant hole for the Lakers’ big-man rotation. Without Davis or any other viable center — L.A. rescinded its deadline trade for Mark Williams, and JJ Redick eventually benched Jaxson Hayes amid a poor postseason — the Lakers were thoroughly dominated inside by Rudy Gobert in the season-ending Game 5 loss.

Even aside from Gobert’s breakout performance, the Timberwolves served as a tough all-around matchup for the Lakers. The relatively young, athletic team took advantage of the sometimes lackluster defense of James, 40, and Doncic, whose conditioning has been a topic of conversation and who also dealt with an illness and back injury during the series.

The five-game series victory secured the Timberwolves a spot in the Western Conference semifinals, although they stunningly lost Game 1 of the second round at home to the Golden State Warriors despite Warriors superstar Stephen Curry leaving the game with a strained hamstring.

Minnesota will try to bounce back in Game 2 and tie the series tonight.