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Somehow, the Lakers concealed the shortcoming in plain sight for months, enough to where the situation looked manageable.

That was then.

Now, in a postseason series against an athletic team with size, their lack of a big man has become a major problem. Now, as the Lakers find themselves with a two-games-to-one deficit in their first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the absence of a reliable center could be why their season comes to a premature end.

Luka Doncic was said to be feeling awful on Friday night, and his play reflected it. However, an equal, if not greater, factor in the Lakers’ 116-104 loss to the Timberwolves in Game 3 was the team’s complete inability to protect the rim.

Considering how Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Edwards practically skipped to their basket on Saturday night at Target Center, the Lakers might as well have replaced their free-throw lane with a red carpet.

The Timberwolves knew the Lakers couldn’t stop them, and the numbers reflected their lack of respect. They attempted 45 shots in the paint, compared to 28 for the Lakers. They scored 56 points in the paint, compared to 26 for the Lakers.

McDaniels scored 30 points, including 24 in the paint. Edwards finished with 29 points and a team-high eight assists.

“The fact is we don’t have rim protection,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “So if you give up blow-bys, we’re gonna give up something.”

Read more:With Luka Doncic ailing, LeBron James' historic night can't save Lakers in Game 3 loss

The Lakers technically have a center in seven-footer Jaxson Hayes, but Redick clearly doesn’t want to play him, evidenced by how Hayes has logged nine or fewer minutes in each of the three games of this series. The nine minutes Hayes played on Friday were particularly destructive, as he registered a plus/minus of minus-13.

Hayes was a backup before the Lakers sent Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks as part of the trade for Doncic, and Davis’ departure shouldn’t have changed that. Hayes is who he is.

The Lakers knew this could be a problem, which is why they had a deal in place to acquire center Mark Williams for the Charlotte Hornets before the trade deadline. But Williams underwent a physical examination, the Lakers were concerned with what they saw, and the trade was rescinded.

Perhaps general manager Rob Pelinka should have gambled on the 7-foot Williams, who was healthy for the remainder of the regular season. Or perhaps Pelinka should have lined up contingencies in case the trade for Williams didn’t work out. Or perhaps he should have gathered more accurate information on the injury-prone Williams beforehand, which could have saved the Lakers time and afforded them the luxury of redirecting their efforts elsewhere. Or perhaps there was nothing he could have done, given the shortage of available big men.

None of that matters now. What’s done is done, and the season autopsy can wait until the summer. The Lakers have a series to win.

Figuring out how to do that is the job of Redick, who said he believed his team could overcome its size deficit.

“We’ve done it all year,” he said. “When we’ve been at our best, we’ve been able to be physical on the ball and not allow blow-bys and also have sort of a cover mentality, multiple effort and it was there at times tonight.”

Forward Dorian Finney-Smith shared a similar view.

Read more:'Be a banshee': How the Lakers cultivated a winning spirit

“Just gotta do a better job of standing in front of the ball,” Finney-Smith said. “I feel like we were just giving up too many blow-bys, and it really ain’t had nothing to do with our size. It was just on-base defense and rotations outside of when we gotta scramble. I feel like we didn’t have the sense of urgency the whole game, and they did.”

Redick pointed to some of the other mistakes made by his team.

“I think we had two [plays] where we collected a rebound, we get backtapped, we give up a point,” he said. “Those things really, really accumulate, especially when you’re turning the ball over.”

Provided Doncic recovers from whatever made him vomit over and over in the hours leading up to the Game 3, the Lakers have two of the best players in the league in him and James. They have a dangerous No. 3 option in Austin Reaves. They have solid defenders in Finney-Smith and Jarred Vanderbilt. But they don’t have a big man, and at this moment, what they don’t have feels as important as what they do.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Playoffs giving Warriors rookie Post trial-by-fire treatment originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – The flight on which Quinten Post is among the pilots is revealing and enlightening. It’s satisfying and frustrating, joyful and infuriating. His introduction to the world of Warriors basketball has been quite the ride, and he has embraced knowing that he’ll influence how long it lasts this season.

He has progressed from a second-round pick in the NBA draft last June to a two-way contract in September to his NBA debut in December to becoming a fixture in Golden State’s rotation in January to making 14 starts as a rookie.

If that’s not enough to substantiate his value, he’s now crucial to the team’s attempt to make a deep NBA playoff run.
Forgive Post if his head were spinning atop his 7-foot frame, but it seems solidly in place.

“Yeah, it’s crazy,” Post tells NBC Sports Bay Area. “Biggest difference, I mean, I was in Santa Cruz, and now here. Back then I was just trying to prove anything. That I could fit or belong. And now there’s a real responsibility on my shoulders. I have an impact on winning or losing. And that that comes with the pressure. The pressure is a blessing. That means that people are relying on you. That’s something special.

“It’s a super cool situation to be in. It’s a whole different world, obviously, for me.”

Post was a non-factor in his playoff debut against the Rockets last Sunday in Houston. Played 12 minutes, went 0 of 3 from the field, with one rebound, one assist and two fouls in a 95-85 win in Game 1. He recovered Wednesday in Game 2, playing 25 minutes and totaling 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from distance.

The only Warrior to score more points in Game 2 was franchise icon Stephen Curry, who finished with 20.
Yet Post laments his lack of impact elsewhere in a 109-94 loss. Specifically rebounding. The Warriors were outrebounded by 16 (52-36) in Game 1 and by 14 (47-33) in Game 2. He grabbed two in Game 2.

“I don’t think anybody expects that we’re going to out-reach and out-rebound them,” Post says of the Rockets, who in the regular season led the league rebounding. “We just have to limit that and play to our strengths, which is playing fast, limiting our turnovers and playing to our game plan. I don’t think anybody was expecting us to outrebound them when we’re obviously a smaller team.

“But when I come off the bench, that’s something I need to get better at. I need to be a better rebounder. I need to become more physical, and with time that will definitely come. I can help us with it now, but I need to become better at rebounding. One thousand percent.”

Houston’s rebounding is among the early pivotal themes in the series, and it’s particularly noticeable when Rockets coach Ime Udoka turns to a lineup with 6-foot-11, 265-pound Steven Adams playing alongside 6-foot-11, 235-pound Alperen Şengün. Towering over Warriors not named Post, they combined for 21 rebounds in Game 1 and 19 in Game 2.

“And then they have their big wings in there crashing,” Post says. “We just play a smaller style of basketball. But I need to be better, and as a team we need to do better.”

The possession game likely will tilt the series. Houston’s rebounding has been a major factor in it attempting 17 more field goals through the first two games. The Rockets’ poor shooting in Game 1 rendered that irrelevant, but their recovery in Game 2 resulted in a 15-point win.

Post is correct in that it’s unrealistic for the Warriors to win that battle, but he’s also correct in saying he needs to be better at it. Same applies to Draymond Green, who has 11 rebounds in two games – the same total as Stephen Curry – and Moses Moody, who has two. The availability of Jimmy Butler III, who pulled seven rebounds in Game 1, is in question for Game 3.

The Warriors are emphasizing the need to match Houston’s physicality. It’s visible and consistent. All rookies realize the playoffs are a different game; Post is seeing that it’s even more pronounced among big men.

“It’s very physical, so I do see differences,” he says. “And they’ve got a good crowd there in Houston. But I know that we’ll have a good, maybe better, crowd here in Chase. So you just feel the intensity. They play a very physical game, too. They probably bumped up the physicality in Game 2, with the mentality that the ref can’t call everything.

“Looking back at that game, I didn’t even realize some of the things that were going on the court. Shoving, pushing, pulling. That’s kind of what happened. And now we just have to respond in Game 3.”

Post, 25, was exposed to basketball while growing up in the Netherlands, idolizing Dirk Nowitzki, who was born and raised in neighboring Germany. Post is in the rotation because, at 44.9 percent, he was the team’s most accurate 3-point shooter. He stretches the floor, a key component of the offense built around Curry.

Post could not have known last spring that he would be in the NBA playoffs with such future Hall of Famers as Curry, Green and Butler. Or that he would have a significant role.

Moreover, the Warriors could not have known they would need him as much as they do.

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After a midseason loss to the Clippers, JJ Redick and LeBron James sounded a bit of an alarm, both coach and leader saying the Lakers didn’t have the luxury to just be pretty good.

The Lakers, if they wanted to win tough games, needed to be great.

“It’s just, we don’t have a huge margin for error,” Redick said.

“That’s how our team is constructed,” James said. “We don't have room for error.”

Read more:'Be a banshee': How the Lakers cultivated a winning spirit

But in a single phone call, when the Dallas Mavericks agreed to a blockbuster trade, the Lakers got the ultimate margin mover in Luka Doncic.

Friday night in Minneapolis, that cushion came crashing in, Doncic far from himself because of an illness that had him working out on the court an hour before the game.

With Doncic off, the mistakes took on more weight. The free throws that rattled out? Bruising. The offensive rebounds given up? Crushing. The lapses in attention that led to turnovers? Back-breaking.

The Lakers weren’t good enough, losing 116-104 to the Timberwolves in a Game 3 they had chances to win before Minnesota slammed the door to take a 2-1 first-round playoff series lead.

“In the postseason, obviously you're not gonna play a perfect game,” James said. “But the more that you make mistakes on top of mistakes on top of mistakes, things that can be controlled, then it's not gonna give you an opportunity to be in the best possible chance to win.”

The Lakers committed 19 turnovers. They allowed nine offensive rebounds. Minnesota took 13 more shots and scored 10 more points in transition.

“Really hard to win a basketball game in that scenario,” Redick said of the possession disparity.

Doncic, a monster in the first quarter of the first two games of the series, looked badly uncomfortable, starting one for six from the field.

After he checked out for the first time, he put on his warmup jacket and pulled the hood onto his head. He wasn’t able to make it out of the locker room at halftime and missed the first 50 seconds of the third quarter, checking back in with a shirt under his uniform.

He scored 17 points on six-for-16 shooting but never could create the kinds of advantages that have given the Lakers room to maneuver.

“He was fighting, trying to be there for us,” Dorian Finney-Smith said. “I didn't think he was going to come out second half.”

James, though, was sublime. Still stimulated by the chance to silence a road playoff crowd, he played with his most energy all series. He pointed over at the bench after he scored on a midrange jumper when the Lakers executed a play called for him early. He held his three-point celebration in the fourth quarter when he shot the Lakers back into the game. He flew for rebounds and moved his feet on defense in a 38-point, 41-minute game. It was the most points scored in a playoff game by a player over 40.

“He's moving better,” Redick said. “He seems like he's getting healthier by the day.”

Austin Reaves, who struggled shooting in Game 2, hit big shots, keeping the Lakers in it despite the mistakes rapidly mounting and making things tougher. He finished with 20 points.

Read more:Plaschke: Lakers found true grit just when they needed it and silenced their critics

The most fatal wounds were caused by the turnovers. They ranged from multiple 24-second violations to lost rebounds to a ball squirting through James’ hands. One even came when Minnesota Rudy Gobert, Doncic’s favorite target, poked the ball loose leading to a Jaden McDaniels layup.

Twenty-four of McDaniels' 30 points came in the paint.

“He had 30 and he was aggressive from the start to the finish,” James said. “Can't remember the last time he took over 20 shots.”

While the mistakes the Lakers made were brutal, the things they couldn’t control hurt too. Their lack of rim protection got badly exploited by McDaniels, who consistently went over their defense.

Jaxson Hayes, the Lakers' starting center, played less than nine minutes, the Lakers being out-scored by 13 when he played.

The combination of the shrunken margins put the Lakers' season a step closer to conclusion, the team now needing to steal a win Sunday in the shortest turnaround in the series.

Despite being sick, Doncic still played 40 minutes. Reaves played 41. They’ll need to recapture their energy from Game 2 on light rest to avoid facing elimination in Game 5.

“We got control the controllables,” James said. “And I don't think we did that tonight obviously. Nineteen turnovers on the road is not gonna be a good ingredient for winning. Giving up (28) points off those turnovers — they had 20-plus points in transition as well. We gotta control the controllables and if we do, we give ourselves chance to win.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.