The Los Angeles Lakers will be without two of their players for their first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, which starts on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
While the team will have its full complement of star players in LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves, as ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported on Tuesday, L.A. will be down two reserve players who both played key roles during the season.
Lakers two-way players Trey Jemison III and Christian Koloko were not converted to full fledge NBA contracts before the regular season ended, so they are ineligible to play in the playoffs,” McMenamin wrote. “However, both practiced with the team today and will be with the team for the playoff run.
Koloko, a 7-foot-1, 220-pound center, provided needed depth in the front court while adding a commanding presence while guarding the rim. He averaged 2.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 9.2 minutes per game this season in 37 appearances.
Jemison began the year with the New Orleans Pelicans before joining the Lakers on Jan. 15 on a two-way contract. He averaged 2.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 10.3 minutes per game in 22 appearances. Many analysts feel he’s more of a future piece for L.A.
The Lakers split their regular-season series with the Timberwolves.
Los Angeles earned a 110-103 win in the season opener on Oct. 22 and a 111-102 victory on Feb. 27 while falling 109-80 on Dec. 2 and 97-87 on Dec. 13.
That Feb. 27 matchup was the only one the Lakers had all of James, Doncic and Reaves in the lineup (Doncic was acquired via trade from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Anthony Davis on Feb. 2).
In that game, James went off for 33 points, 17 rebounds, and six assists, Doncic added 21 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists, and Reaves chipped in 23 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
SAN FRANCISCO – Jumping on the backs of Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler, the Warriors are headed to the NBA playoffs as the Western Conference’s No. 7 seed to face the Houston Rockets.
Once ahead by 20 points, the Warriors were outscored by nine points in the third quarter and lost their lead early in the fourth. But behind a Curry flurry in the final few minutes, the Warriors broke their NBA play-in tournament losing streak and took down the Memphis Grizzlies in epic fashion Tuesday night at Chase Center, 121-116.
Curry’s clutch gene was on full display, scoring 15 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter. He splashed two threes in the final two minutes, and also made four free throws in the final five seconds left to close out the win. Curry was just 9 of 22 from the field, but went 6 of 13 on threes, 13 of 13 on free throws, and also had eight rebounds, four assists and a steal.
This was yet another night showcasing how Butler completely changed the Warriors’ season. Butler scored a season-high 38 points on 12-of-20 shooting. The do-it-all veteran was a man on a mission, also providing seven rebounds, six assists and three steals to go with a season-high 18 free-throw attempts and 12 makes.
When Butler found himself in the play-in tournament as a member of the Miami Heat last season, he scored 19 points and added four rebounds, five assists and five steals, but sustained a sprained right MCL that kept him out for the remainder of the postseason. While the Warriors didn’t have any play-in tournament success coming into the night, Butler sure did.
It was as if Butler saw every inch of the 7-foot-4 Zach Edey and made it his personal mission to show the rookie what big games are all about. Edey dared Butler to shoot behind the 3-point line, and he drained both his treys in the first quarter. He went at him, too. Butler in the first quarter alone had 10 points, two rebounds, two assists and a steal.
