LeBron James has already identified the necessary adjustments to make following the Los Angeles Lakers' Game 1 loss to the Houston Rockets Friday.
James believes the Lakers were caught off guard by the pace of the Rockets in the 112-97 defeat, a vulnerability he says his team will remedy ahead of Sunday.
"I think it's the speed," he said postgame, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "They play with a lot of speed both offensively and defensively. And you can watch it on film and you can see it on film; until you get out there and get a feel for it (you cannot comprehend it).
"That's what we did tonight. We got a feel for their speed, and we should be fully aware of that going into Game 2."
The numbers support James' findings. The Rockets pressured the Lakers into 17 turnovers while committing 16 themselves, scoring 27 points in those situations while the Lakers mustered just 12, courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats.
Curiously, the Lakers did lead in fast-break points, registering 18 compared to just nine for Houston. However, Los Angeles was ultimately undone by a failure to secure the ball. Despite having much less rest since their first-round series, the Rockets won the fourth quarter 27-18, with eight of those 27 points coming off turnovers.
James argues that more reps are the only way to figure out how to counter the Rockets' quickness.
"You adjust to that by playing against it," he said. "It was, 'OK, we need to play them again.' There's no way you can simulate that speed."
