The Los Angeles Lakers managed to earn the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference by using a vastly improved defense, all-around play from LeBron James and, of course, the welcome addition of Luka Dončić.
And all of those advantages showed up in the first-round playoff series with the Minnesota Timberwolves — a game late, but just in time.
The Lakers never trailed after the first few minutes of Game 2, led by double digits almost until the very end, flexed their star power when necessary and sent the Wolves home feeling frustrated and maybe a little less confident about this series.
Yes, Minnesota did gain a split at Crypto.com Arena overall, for what that’s worth, but they also know the Lakers are willing and able to match their style — low scoring and physical if necessary.
“The mentality for both teams is to have a rock fight,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said.
Here are Five Takeaways from the Lakers’ 94-85 victory and a series that’s now tied at one apiece:
1. Still no answer for Luka
Last summer in the Western Conference Finals, Dončić sent the Wolves off to vacation. It was a thorough takedown and earned Luka the conference finals MVP award. Dončić averaged 32.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, 8.2 assists, shot 47% from the field, 43% from deep and 85% from the line. He was beastly.
A change of uniforms from Dallas to L.A. hasn’t resulted in a change of … results. At least so far. As celebrated as Minnesota’s defense was then and now, there’s no solution for Luka. Through two games he’s the best player on a floor shared with LeBron and Anthony Edwards.
He’s hunting Rudy Gobert on isolations — the crowd noise was deafening with anticipation when that happened — and having his way against Jaden McDaniels, too. He finished one assist shy of a 31-point triple double in Game 2 and is averaging 34 points for the series.
Minnesota rarely doubles opposing players — their individual defense is that good — but Luka is testing that strategy. It might be time for a tweak.
2. Wolves fell for the Game 1 fool’s gold
They made 21 shots from deep in the opener. Jaden McDaniels scored 25 points and missed only two shots. Those were the difference-makers for the Wolves and allowed them to seize an early series advantage.
But this team doesn’t usually make as many 3s, and certainly not at a 50% rate. As for Daniels, he’s a defensive specialist … and just a career 10-point scorer who averaged 12 this season. Which means anyone who thought the Wolves would keep up the pace were perhaps fooling themselves.
They shot 5-for-25 from beyond the arc Tuesday, which is usually the recipe for doom. And Daniels went 0-for-3 from distance, finishing with eight points.
The Wolves lacked an additional scorer on a night when points were hard to generate. It was just Julius Randle (career playoff-high 27 points) and Anthony Edwards (25), who at times appeared passive despite taking 22 shots.
3. Lakers manage without a center
It’s hard enough for big men in today’s league, and this series isn’t helping their reputation. The Lakers have essentially gone two games without playing one. Meanwhile, Gobert, the Wolves’ starting center, is a non-factor.
Starting Lakers center Jaxson Hayes is foul prone — he had five in nine minutes of playing time Tuesday — and doesn’t rebound or score well enough to command more minutes. That’s why the Lakers played small ball instead. They have that luxury because Gobert presents no challenge for them defensively. He’s not in the Wolves’ playbook and when the ball did find him, he fumbled passes and took only five shots.
Advantage, Lakers. This is a poor matchup for Gobert, who doesn’t have a low-post opponent to guard and is constantly baited into switches where suddenly he’s staring at containing Luka or LeBron.
4. Wolves bench takes a seat
They ambushed the Lakers in the first game of the series, outscoring their bench 43-13 and at times were better than the Wolves’ starters. Yes, Minnesota’s bench was that much of a difference-maker … and that much of a ghost for much of Game 2.
Naz Reid went from being unstoppable — he had 23 points — to vaporizing. He committed silly fouls in the first half and was forced to sit early with his third. He went scoreless through three quarters. And he made only one 3-pointer after swishing six in Game 1.
Ditto for Donte DiVincenzo, who went from aggressive in Game 1 to reckless in Game 2 with fouls (four, along with one field goal) and just 16 minutes.
5. Defense is here to stay?
The Lakers scored 95 points in Game 1, then 94 in Game 2. While there’s no automatic carryover from game to game, it’s fair to suggest these teams won’t set any scoring records in this series based on what they’ve given so far.
Once the Wolves set the tone for the series in the first game, the Lakers had no choice but to match. And for a team whose defense was faulty at the start of the season, the Lakers have come a long way to be on the same level with Minneosta.
“The emphasis was to play harder, match physicality with physicality,” said Austin Reaves.
The Wolves had only 15 first-quarter points, the Lakers only 36 second-half points. Both teams shot just 20% from deep. There were droughts caused by poor execution, solid defense and sometimes both.
The Lakers do have three creators in Reaves, Luka and LeBron while the Wolves have just one in Edwards. Those are odds in L.A.’s favor as the series shifts to Minnesota. If there’s a sudden offensive surge, LeBron expects it to belong to the Lakers.
“We can still be better offensively,” said LeBron. “I thought we had some great looks. If we continue to get looks like that, I trust our percentages.”
