The Los Angeles Lakers aren’t a first quarter team. That much was true before the season restarted, but it’s been especially true since they arrived to Orlando last month and it proved costly for them on Tuesday.
In Game 1 of their playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Lakers conceded 36 points in the first quarter and only scored 25 points. From that point on, the Lakers had to play catch-up, and it wasn’t until the 8:46 mark of the fourth quarter that they took their first lead.
There were a lot of reasons the Lakers disappointed on Tuesday, but their first quarter was a big one.