Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green commented on the playstyle of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Tuesday night.
Green was surprised at how much James played off the ball in the Lakers’ 117-112 win over the Warriors.
Draymond Green speaks on LeBron James’ play last night:
(Via @TheVolumeSports) pic.twitter.com/zetIxopueN
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 3, 2023
“LeBron is playing a totally different style, a totally different game than we’ve ever seen him play before,” Green said. “And it’s interesting figuring it out. You’re not used to seeing LeBron off the ball so much. And so, I thought that was interesting and something that we’ll have to adjust to.
“It’s just not your typical LeBron running the show, which is a bit weird.”
While James may not have been “running the show” like Green expected, he still took 24 shots and dished out four assists in the Lakers’ win. The four-time NBA Finals MVP finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds, four dimes and three blocks in Game 1.
The Lakers have a plethora of ball-handlers in their starting lineup, and James seems content with letting D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves initiate the offense at times.
That has made the Lakers extremely dangerous on their playoff run, as teams can’t just key in on James and slow him down as a creator on offense.
In Game 1, Russell finished with 19 points on 9-of-19 shooting and dished out six assists. Not only that, but the Lakers got a huge game from Anthony Davis, who scored 30 points and grabbed 23 rebounds.
The Warriors and Green are certainly going to need to adjust their defense to slow down Davis, and it will be interesting to see how they defend James as well the rest of the series.
Golden State primarily used Andrew Wiggins to guard James in Game 1. Wiggins is one of the few players on the Warriors who has the size and lateral quickness to compete on defense against the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
After winning Game 1, the Lakers are in a good spot to take control of the series. If it can steal Game 2 at Chase Center, Los Angeles would be in a great spot heading back to Crypto.com Arena for Game 3.
Either way, winning one game in Golden State is already huge for the Lakers, as they now control the home-court advantage.
