nba playoffs: round 1 - lakers vs timberwolves

Written By: Aaron Allen

Last night the Timberwolves went up against the Lakers in Game 1, and what may seem like a shock to some, the Timberwolves came out with the win, fairly easily blowing the Lakers out 117-95. Most predicted that the Lakers were going to win this series easily but being blown out in Game 1 is not a good way to start your Playoff experience, so what really went wrong with the Lakers in this game? 

The Lakers roster, last night, did not look sharp and it was not the best basketball we’ve seen them play like in the regular season. Luka Doncic played well with 37 points, 8 rebounds, and 1 assist. Along with him comes LeBron James with 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists which is a decent game for  LeBron. He can and will do better as we progress through the series.  Austin Reaves had 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists, and we know that Reaves is more than capable of doing much better and shooting the ball better than he did this game. The next leading scorer for the Lakers was Rui Hachimura with 9 points, so clearly scoring was a major issue for the Lakers, also the difference in fast break points being that they had 6 to Minnesota’s 25 with LeBron, Reaves, and Luka combining for 11 turnovers out of the 13 they had as a team. Coach JJ Redick, Austin Reaves, and LeBron James pointed out the physicality of the Timberwolves caught them by surprise and it was something they weren’t ready for which was also a factor in this blowout loss. 

The Minnesota Timberwolves put on a clinic last night against the Lakers pulling out with a huge win against the Lakers on their home floor. The Timberwolves looked to have set the tone of this series, coming out with major physicality that the Lakers felt bigtime. The young superstar Anthony Edwards had a decent night with 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists on poor shooting percentage. Other than the percentage, these stats are still very great and we know that Ant hasn’t even gotten started showing what he’s capable of in the playoffs. Jaden McDaniels had an amazing game last night with 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists on an amazing shooting percentage going 11-13 from the field. Another notable performance in this game was Naz Reid. Naz had 23 ponts, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists which was obviously huge for this underdog team. It is key that all of these players are on point and don’t slip up against a team like the Lakers. As a team, Minnesota played the perfect game of basketball. As stated in the previous article, they need everybody on point and can’t slip up, and as the stats show, that’s exactly what they did. The Timberwolves shot 51.2% from the field, and 50% from the three point line as a team. If Minnesota continues this beautiful offense, keeping this intense pressure and physicality, the Lakers can potentially have a major problem comfortably winning this series, or winning at all.