The Lakers will have to make some changes, or things won’t end well for them. The Los Angeles Lakers, entering the playoffs as the third seed, hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves and suffered a complete embarrassment. The final score was 117:95 in favor of the Timberwolves.
It’s nice to play offense, but to win a title, you have to play defense too. Clearly, the Los Angeles Lakers needed a loss like this to understand that, because if they don’t change something, they won’t make it past the second round of the Western Conference.
Luka Dončić gave it his all on offense, scoring 37 points with eight rebounds, but he had only one assist. On top of that, he was frequently targeted on defense, especially by Anthony Edwards, who repeatedly scored easily over the Slovenian. LeBron James added 19 points, while Austin Reaves contributed 16. Much will depend on those two as well, and they simply have to score more points.
Edwards, on the other hand, scored 22 points, while Naz Reid added one more (6/9 from three), and the top scorer was Jaden McDaniels with 25 points. He’s primarily on the court for his defense, and it’s truly unbelievable that the Lakers allowed him to score that many points.
If there’s one thing JJ Redick’s players did well, it was defending Julius Randle, who scored 16 points. Aside from that and free throw percentage, the Lakers were outplayed in every other category.
Minnesota shot 50% from three (21/42), had more rebounds, more steals, and—most importantly—fewer turnovers. Even though the Lakers struck first in this game, it was the Wolves who landed the knockout punch.
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During the second half, the Timberwolves led by as much as 27 points. The Lakers tried to come back, but they didn’t have the game—or the time—to do it. In the end, Redick waved the white flag and sent in the bench, including Bronny James.
It’s also worth mentioning that this is Redick’s first playoff series as a head coach, so it will be interesting to see how he adjusts his team ahead of Game Two, scheduled for the night between Tuesday and Wednesday at 04:00.
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Source: Mozzartsport, Foto: AP