But the tone of the game was set by how Detroit won the minor battles that define possessions, the ball pressure that knocks a team out of rhythm, the grabbing that makes a screen slightly more effective, the shoving under the glass that leads to an extra possession. The Lakers have countered it before — just not consistently. There are things the Lakers can do to make more physical teams less of a problem. But there’s probably not much they can do to make that problem go away completely. “We gotta be stronger. That’s all,” James said. “…We gotta do it as a team. We gotta help guys get open. When guys are pressuring the ball, you gotta help guys screen better. You gotta screen better.
… You gotta use your triple-threat (position). When you have a live dribble, get guys up off you.