A plethora of mistakes and a stomach flu hampered Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers‘ road playoff battle against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Anthony Edwards and Co. punished every mistake and sailed to the tune of the home crowd. The Purple and Gold got buried under the noise, resulting in a 1-2 disadvantage with another road game yet to go. A bright spot, though, was LeBron James.
He was reminiscent of his vintage ‘Playoff LeBron’ mode against the Timberwolves tonight. His fourth quarter exhibition in the 38-point performance gave the Lakers a fighting chance. But in the last four minutes, they went scoreless. A 13-1 run by the Timberwolves, inspired by Ant-Man, knocked the brakes off the Lakers. However, it came to that point because of their mishaps.
“Well first of all I mean in the postseason there is no room for error… Obviously you’re not going to play a perfect game. But the more that you make mistakes on top of mistakes on top of mistakes, you know things that can be controlled then it’s not going to give you an opportunity to be in the best possible chance to win. And 13 more goes at the rim than we did. Pretty much that’s the game right there. We had 78 attempts, they had 91,” James said about the reason for their loss.
Turnovers brought about the situation. The Lakers committed 19 turnovers today, giving the Timberwolves regular possessions. Ultimately, they took a 15-point advantage in points off turnovers. Additionally, with Doncic unable to fuel the game as he did in LA, the Wolves’ defense was especially active tonight.
In the playoffs, the margin for error is razor-thin. Every game offers moments for both teams to seize control—and once you grab it, the challenge is holding on. The Timberwolves had their slips along the way, but when it mattered most, they tightened up, turned up the intensity, and closed the game out for good.
Aside from turnovers and their breakdowns, the Lakers had another problem. Wolves shot just 38% from the field in Game 2; however, today they shot close to 50%. Their strategy changed, choosing to attack the rim and pressure the Lakers’ defense. Ideally, they cover the spaces. But tonight, Jaden McDaniels used his length and wingspan to break the perimeter.
That left a struggling Jaxson Hayes to man the paint. The series hasn’t been kind to him. In close to 9 minutes, he was a -13 for the game. He stood his ground and avoided fouling. But the Timberwolves have great slashers like Randle and Ant who can exploit a weak shot blocker. That led to 56 coming inside the paint for them.
It raised doubts on Hayes’ ability to supply as a starting center for a playoff team. However, rather than blaming one man, LeBron James is looking for improvement across the board.
