LeBron James Sends Warning to Lakers For Game 3 Despite Defensive Efforts

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers may be in control of their playoff series, but there’s no sense of comfort inside the locker room.

After taking a 2-0 lead over the Houston Rockets, much of the attention has shifted to how effectively the Lakers contained Kevin Durant in Game 2.

While Durant still finished with 23 points, he was limited to just three in the second half and committed a playoff career-high nine turnovers.

James led the way with 28 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, but postgame, his focus wasn’t on what went right, it was on what’s coming next.

“None. That just makes him even madder going into Game 3,” James said after the win. “No satisfaction. You know, we did our job. We did that. But the guy’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer and he’s going to make way more great plays than not. So, we don’t have no satisfaction… That game is over and done with, but it’s still a tall challenge — 7-foot tall, too… He hates that. He might be mad at me if he sees that. He wants to be 6-9 or 6-10 so bad, but he’s 7-foot for sure.”

The Lakers’ aggressive defensive scheme, trapping and double-teaming Durant throughout the night, proved effective, but James made it clear that containing a player of Durant’s caliber is never a one-game task.

“I just think it’s just the, I mean it’s the stories,” James added. “You guys have seen us play for so long. They followed us since high school or maybe even before that so you know, the storytelling is what a lot of fans and what a lot of people gravitate towards because they’ve seen our journey. They’ve seen our ups, they’ve seen our downs, and everything in between.

“And I think that’s what makes certain guys, certain matchups, that fans kind of attract to because of the journey and the storytelling,” he added. “So from a fan’s perspective, I think that’s what that’s about. From a competitive standpoint, to play against one of the greats to ever play this game is always an honor and it’s always a treat so I don’t take that for granted.”