The Los Angeles Lakers struggled in Saturday's Game 1 blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, but Austin Reaves is expecting a different result for Tuesday's Game 2.
"Hopefully, we can just right our wrongs," Reaves said Monday, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "We played bad, they shot the ball really well. They're obviously a really good team that's physical. We got to match that. Tomorrow, it'll be a different story."
The Wolves shot 51.2% from the field and 50% from three in the series-opening win. While L.A. struggled offensively, star Luka Doncic was the only Laker to exceed 20 points and shoot above 50%.
"Shitty," Reaves said of his 5-of-13 shooting performance in the 117-95 loss. "I wasn't myself. To what the reason was, don't know. But just got to go out there and be myself, play my game and have fun doing it."
Head coach JJ Redick said Monday marked the "best practice (the Lakers) had in months," noting the team "played live for a very extended period" during the session.
Redick also acknowledged that the club should have approached its off days leading up to the playoffs with greater intensity, attributing Los Angeles' Game 1 issues to a lack of organization.
"I think a lot of times you would hear that word and then you would think, 'Oh, it's the point guard calling a play,'" Redick said. "No, it's just all of the normal stuff that we try to do, and when we do it, we're really good. Being organized is screening. Being organized is getting to the proper spacing. Being organized is getting the corners filled after makes and misses. That's being organized."
Going down in the series was a setback, but Reaves called the loss a "wake-up call."
"We just have to do a lot of things better," Redick added. "And it starts with playing harder and being organized."
