The Los Angeles Lakers’ season will be on the line on Wednesday when they return home to host Game 5 of their first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
They blew Game 3 and Game 4 in crunch time and lost both contests in Minneapolis, and as a result, they trail the series three games to one. While both of those games were very winnable for them, they haven’t given any real reason for any rational observer to expect them to truly get back in this series.
One of the Lakers’ many problems in this series has been their lack of size up front. They were hoping that Maxi Kleber, a big man who was thrown into February’s Luka Doncic trade, would be able to return from foot surgery late in the regular season, but his possible return date was pushed back.
Kleber has reportedly been gradually ramping up his on-court activities lately. Unexpectedly, they have upgraded him from out to questionable for Game 5.
It is way too early to predict that Kleber will actually play in Game 5. But moving forward, he could actually provide a bit of value for Los Angeles.
Prior to his foot injury in January, he had been known for several seasons as a 6-foot-10 power forward/center who can play solid defense, help on the boards and shoot a respectable percentage from 3-point range. The team badly needs any and all help it can get at the center position.
