The Los Angeles Lakers are set to welcome the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first play-in game of the Western Conference on Tuesday.
The Lakers will be heavy favorites, but LeBron James knows it won’t be easy, and he explained the challenges they’ll face defensively in the game.
“That’s a challenge versus everybody, and Minnesota is no different,” James said. “When you got guys like KAT (Karl-Anthony Towns) and Anthony Edwards, those guys can both go for 40 against you and put multiple pressure on you. You got a very cerebral, solid point guard in Mike Conley who’s been in multiple playoff games. So, listen, we know what we’re getting ourselves into.”
(starts at 1:31 mark):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_2j0SCZMRw
The Timberwolves did win the season series between these sides 2-1, but the Lakers won their last meeting and would be confident they can get the win here as well. Slowing down Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns would certainly be key for them, and they have done a good job on Edwards, in particular, this season.
The first-time All-Star has averaged just 19.7 PPG on 40.7% shooting from the field against them in the three meetings. Towns has had a little more success, putting up 22.0 PPG while shooting 45.7% from the field in two games. If the Lakers can limit those two to around that number, they will most probably come away with the win.
The Timberwolves Are In Disarray
What makes things a little bit easier for the Lakers is that the Timberwolves are in disarray at the moment. In their final regular season game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, Rudy Gobert punched teammate Kyle Anderson during a timeout. The Frenchman was sent home by the team, and it remains to be seen if they’ll suspend him for this play-in game.
Not long after this, Jaden McDaniels fractured his hand after punching a wall when he was on his way to the locker room at halftime. These two incidents are far from ideal just before a big game, to say the least, and you have to wonder how much it’ll impact the rest of the team.
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