Los Angeles Lakers: 2 reasons not to worry whatsoever about Game 1 loss

By Jason Reed | May 24, 2021

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MAY 23: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the second half of Game One of the Western Conference first-round playoff series against the Phoenix Suns at Phoenix Suns Arena on May 23, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns defeated the Lakers 99-90. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

1. It was a legitimate anomaly that the Los Angeles Lakers lost

It feels like a cop-out for any person to say that a loss was an anomaly but it legitimately was an anomaly that the Los Angeles Lakers lost this game. They were not heavily outplayed and they were not outmatched in any way. They beat themselves and this is something that likely won’t happen over the course of a seven-game series.

Sure, there are certain areas in which Phoenix did outplay the Lakers but those areas are not sustainable. Deandre Ayton is not going to have the offensive rebounding game that he had in Game 1 throughout the entire season. It just is not going to happen.

The Lakers were getting good looks and taking good shots and were just… missing them. Based on the quality of shots taken by both teams, the Lakers were actually projected to win this game by 10 points, not lose it by nine. According to historic ShotQuality data, the Lakers had an 83% chance of winning this game.

Quite frankly, the Lakers played as poorly as you can realistically expect them to play and they still lost by only nine. Now just imagine how well the team is going to do when they are playing good basketball and actually hitting the shots that they typically hit?

The Lakers still held the Suns to 99 points despite letting up far too many rebounds and giving them far too many fastbreak chances by missing shots they should have made. The Suns did not beat the Lakers in this game, the Lakers beat themselves.

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