The Los Angeles Lakers entered Game 1 of their first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves full of confidence but ended up getting blown out at home. The Timberwolves won 117-95, and Lakers icon Magic Johnson took to X to point out two areas where his team failed as they went down 1-0.
“The Lakers failed in two big categories in their loss against the Timberwolves. On the defensive end – they allowed the Timberwolves to shoot over 51% from the field and they didn’t respond to the physical play of the Timberwolves. Last but not least, it was too much standing around on the Lakers offense and players watching the Lakers big three, Reeves, Doncic and James, go one-on-one. We need far more productivity from the bench.”
Johnson was pretty much on point with all that he stated there. The Timberwolves went 44-86 from the field and 21-42 from beyond the arc in Game 1. The Lakers didn’t defend well at all, allowing one open look after another. All 42 of those three-pointers attempted were classified as wide-open or open, which is just flat-out terrible.
To go with that, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves were repeatedly hunted on defense as well. The fact that the Lakers didn’t have a proper big man on the court meant the Timberwolves had success inside, too, and Lakers head coach JJ Redick is going to have to make some adjustments for Game 2.
As for Johnson’s point about physical play, Redick and LeBron James admitted the Lakers weren’t ready for the level of physicality that the Timberwolves played with. James made it clear they will be prepared for it in Game 2, and we’ll soon find out if they are.
Now, getting to the offensive end, the Lakers weren’t much better when it came to putting the ball in the basket either. They went 33-83 (39.8%) from the field and 15-41 (36.6%) from beyond the arc.
Johnson felt the role players were just standing around while the stars kept playing one-on-one basketball. That was a point he made on Saturday night as well, following the loss. Johnson felt that was one of the Lakers’ worst performances of the season, and it indeed was. They just didn’t do anything well, and it was quite surprising.
Before the series, Johnson had picked the Lakers to win in six. The 65-year-old did add, though, that he was a bit scared as they were going up against Anthony Edwards.
Edwards finished with 22 points (8-22 FG), eight rebounds, nine assists, and one steal in Game 1. He struggled a bit with his shot but made an impact by contributing in other ways.
Johnson also felt that the Timberwolves could win the series if Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo stepped up, and the former did. Reid had 23 points in Game 1, and the Lakers made life easy for him by giving him one too many wide-open looks. If they do that again in Game 2, he’ll make them pay again.
Game 2 will be at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday at 10 PM ET, and it’s not an exaggeration to call it a must-win for the Lakers. As great as Doncic and James are, it’ll be almost impossible to win four out of five games when three of them will be held in Minnesota.
