In the first playoff game of the Luka Doncic era, the Los Angeles Lakers were looking to set the tone with a win in Saturday’s Game 1 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The home teams (Pacers, Nuggets, Knicks) were a perfect 3-0 before tonight’s final matchup, but the Lakers fell apart early in this loss, and the fans are worried about what it means for the rest of the series.
The Lakers looked pretty good in the opening quarter, taking a 28-21 lead after the first 12 minutes. It wasn’t until the second quarter that things got out of control when the Timberwolves began a three-point shooting barrage that never stopped. The Timberwolves never let go of the rope after that, resulting in a shocking 117-95 win on the road.
Anthony Edwards was a leading force for victory tonight with 22 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists on 36.4% shooting. Jaden McDaniels was the leading scorer for Minnesota with 25 points, nine rebounds, and two assists on 84.6% shooting. Off the bench, Naz Reid dominated his minutes with 23 points, five rebounds, and two assists on 66.7% shooting.
For the Lakers, Luka Doncic led the way with 37 points, eight rebounds, and one assist on 54.5% shooting. LeBron James finished with 19 points, five rebounds, and three assists on 44.4% shooting. Austin Reaves tallied 16 points, three rebounds, and three assists on 38.5% shooting.
The series is not close to over, with at least three more games to play. Still, the Lakers should be concerned based on what they saw tonight. Almost everything went wrong for them in Game 1, and if they don’t find a way to solve the glaring issues, they could be heading to Minneapolis down 0-2, trying to avoid a potential sweep.
Major Struggles For Lakers Stars
Luka Doncic was the lone bright spot in what was otherwise a rough night for the Lakers. They shot just 39.8% for the game on 36.6% shooting from three. Luka was the only Laker who crossed the 20-point mark.
LeBron James has been aging like fine wine, but he certainly looked his age tonight. With 19 points and four turnovers on 44.4% shooting, the King was a step slow and clearly out of rhythm all night long. His lack of efficient scoring brought the whole team down, and they just couldn’t keep up with the Wolves’ hot shooting.
The biggest concern among Lakers fans is with Austin Reaves. He was drawing comparisons to D’Angelo Russell tonight with his overall energy and impact on the floor, and it showed in the box score with a statline of 16 points, three rebounds, and three assists on 38.5% shooting.
Timberwolves Won Bench Battle
The Lakers’ struggles were team-wide tonight, even stretching to the bench where proven shooters like Gabe Vincent and Dorian Finney-Smith were unable to get it going. The second unit scored 12 points combined in the game on abysmal shooting.
Meanwhile, the Timberwolves got contributions across the roster — including from the bench, which scored 43 points combined. Sixth Man of the Year, Naz Reid, torched the Lakers in the frontcourt with 23 points, five rebounds, and two assists on 66.7% shooting.
One thing we learned from this game is that while the Lakers may have more star power, they can’t match the youth and depth of the Timberwolves. That fact became clear in Game 1, and now the Lakers will have to adjust if they want to get out of the first round.
Unstoppable Shooting
As is usually the case in the modern NBA, teams live and die by the three-pointer. For the Lakers, their abysmal shooting spelled disaster right away, and things got worse once the competition began to heat up offensively.
In the blowout win, Minnesota went 44-86 from the field (51.2%) and 21-42 from three (50%). After a slow start, the Timberwolves caught a steady rhythm on the floor, and once they took a big lead, they never let it go.
If the Lakers are going to advance in the playoffs this year, they’ll need to improve their perimeter defense and figure out how to close out on the shooters. The Timberwolves were surely cooking tonight, and Anthony Edwards is impossible to stop, but the Lakers clearly made some mistakes with how many easy looks they gave up tonight.
After an embarrassing effort at home, the Lakers will take the next few hours to regroup and make some adjustments for the rematch on Sunday. The good news is, LeBron James and Austin Reaves are unlikely to play as poorly as they did tonight. The bad news is that they still don’t have anyone to throw at Minnesota’s frontcourt with Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle, and veteran Naz Reid off the bench. It’s going to be an interesting series, to say the least, and the Lakers are going to be tested like never before.
