Lakers superstar Luka Dončić is “feeling better” before Sunday’s Game 4, according to coach JJ Redick. Dončić was dealing with a stomach bug during Friday night’s Game 3, scoring just 17 points in a Lakers loss against the Timberwolves. The Wolves enter Sunday’s Game 4 with a 2-1 series lead, making it essential for the Lakers.
The 17 points in Game 3 were the second fewest of Dončić’s playoff career. LeBron James led the Lakers with 38 points, but he’ll need more help on Sunday.
Will Luka be like himself? Our Sam Quinn says the quick turnaround from Friday night to Sunday afternoon means Dončić likely won’t be fully back to his high-scoring self.
It was the best game of the series so far, but in the end, the home team pulled away. The Timberwolves now lead the Lakers 2-1 in this first-round series, but they’re at a bigger advantage than that. Game 3 is Sunday afternoon. With Luka Dončić ill and LeBron James … well … old, rest is very important to the Lakers right now and they won’t get it. That makes the way they lost this one all the more painful.
James was sensational in defeat, scoring 38 points while playing some of his best defense of the season. Austin Reaves finally emerged as well, scoring 20 himself. But with Dončić struggling with that illness, the Lakers were just one scorer short. Minnesota, meanwhile, got a stellar night from its own superstar.
Anthony Edwards finished the game with 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. He did that while playing critical defense on Reaves and carrying the Timberwolves down the stretch. If there was any thought about last year’s upset over Denver being a fluke, that should be gone. Edwards is one of the most dangerous postseason players in the NBA now. He beat Kevin Durant and Nikola Jokić last year. Now, he’s two wins away from putting James and Dončić on his mantle as well.
We’ve got ourselves a game here, folks. The Timberwolves lead, 86-84 after three quarters, but the Lakers will not go away. Despite a poor performance from Luka Dončić for most of the game due to illness, LeBron James and Austin Reaves have kept the Lakers afloat in this critical Game 3. Minnesota has had adventures in the clutch all season. The Lakers, with their three shot-creators, would seem to be at an advantage late in a tight game. Either way, we have a great fourth quarter waiting for us.
You can’t expect to make mistakes and avoid punishment in the playoffs. The Lakers just learned that when Luka Dončić tried to pass a rebound to Austin Reaves that smacked him in the face. Anthony Edwards grabbed the loose ball and, well, is what happened next…
Interesting note: Luka Dončić did not start the second half. He’s reportedly not feeling well, and he scored only five points in a lackluster second half. He’s back on the bench, so we’ll keep you updated on his condition.
UPDATE: He’s back in the game, so he must’ve been getting treatment of some sort. However, he clearly does not look like himself. He’s getting picked on relentlessly on defense and not making up for it with offense.
The first two games of this series devolved into far too much switch-hunting for the Los Angeles Lakers. Luka Dončić found Rudy Gobert in pick-and-roll and attacked. Their Game 3 offense has been far more balanced, but one player stands out: LeBron James has 22 points through the first two quarters as he’s led the Lakers to a 58-54 lead. James is doing it in just about every way, from a crazy, side-step 3-pointer to vicious attacks of the basket. Right now, the Timberwolves have no answer for the 40-year-old legend.
Just as important: The smaller Lakers are winning on the boards, holding a 22-16 advantage in the rebounding department. That is a death sentence for the Timberwolves in this series. The Lakers don’t really use a center, outside of a few Jaxson Hayes minutes here and there. That gives them more ball-handling and defensive speed, and the Timberwolves need to be able to out-rebound the Lakers if they are going to compensate for that. Right now, they’re not doing it.
It’s been another bad shooting night for the Timberwolves. Minnesota made 21-of-42 3-pointers in Game 1 but have gone cold ever since. They’re 4-of-17 from deep here in Game 3 despite home-court advantage theoretically helping their sharpshooters. Where the Timberwolves are making it up is in the paint. They have a 32-16 edge there thanks to Jaden McDaniels and those big men.
NBA playoff odds, picks: Luka Dončić, LeBron James expose Timberwolves; Celtics go up 3-0 on Magic
We have a tied series, folks. After the Minnesota Timberwolves blew the Los Angeles Lakers off of the Crypto.com Arena floor on Saturday, the Lakers have tied this first-round matchup at 1-1. Game 3 is coming on Friday, when the venue will shift from Los Angeles to Minnesota, ironically the original home of the Lakers.
The major difference in this one came on the defensive end. The Lakers actually scored fewer points in Game 2 than they did in Game 1, when they put up 95, but they held the Timberwolves to 85 in what was their best defensive performance in quite some time. Most notably, they held Minnesota to 5 of 25 from deep after the Timberwolves shot 21 of 42 in Game 1. They tweaked their defense to include a bit more switching and a bit less help, and the result was a much more favorable shot diet defensively.
Offensively, the story of the night was the Lakers hunting for Rudy Gobert. By the eye test, it was quite effective. Luka Dončić, LeBron James and Austin Reaves all took turns going at Minnesota’s former Defensive Player of the Year, and all three scored highlight buckets against him. But the scoreboard still showed only 94 points. Before the series, Gobert suggested he’d win out in this situation in the aggregate. If the Timberwolves could’ve scored in Game 2, they might have won. Instead, the Lakers have tied this series up.
Here’s a lesson you’d think teams would have learned by now: don’t help off of Anthony Edwards. On this play, Luka Dončić joined Rui Hachimura to double Julius Randle, but all that did was give Edwards a runway. He used it to throw down the most vicious dunk of the playoffs so far, a legendary slam over Jaxson Hayes. If Minnesota can pull off a second-half comeback tonight, this dunk will likely be the catalyst for it.
The Lakers built a lead as high as 22 in the first half of this one, and even if Minnesota has cut into it slightly, the Lakers are still firmly in control with a 58-43 lead after two quarters. The Lakers needed a big response after they were blown out in Game 1 and boy have they delivered.
Unsurprisingly, it’s the stars leading the way in Hollywood. Luka Dončić has 22 points at halftime, while LeBron James has 13 of his own. Both have made a point of attacking Rudy Gobert on the perimeter, challenging the four-time Defensive Player of the Year in the area of the court where he’s most vulnerable. Gobert said before the series that he would hold his own over a large sample, but that hasn’t been the case thus far.
After making 21 3-pointers in Game 1, the Timberwolves have been held to just two on 10 attempts here in the first half of Game 2. The Lakers have switched defensively and sent less help at Anthony Edwards to ensure that Minnesota hasn’t had the same easy access to open looks. The result has been a stellar defensive half, and the Lakers are well on their way to tying this series.
Let’s take a look at the first quarter scoreboard:
Lakers not named Luka Dončić: 18
Luka Doncic: 16
Timberwolves: 15
Not a great look for Minnesota to get outscored by both a single player and all of his teammates separately, but the Lakers look locked in after one with a 34-15 lead. The dominant defense that carried them in January and February is back, and Minnesota is struggling for answers. Of course, the Lakers led by seven after a quarter on Saturday, so they’ll have to be vigilant the rest of the way if they don’t want to blow this lead.
Oh boy, this isn’t great for the Lakers. Rui Hachimura is headed to the locker room immediately after taking a shot in the face. The Lakers don’t have a typical center outside of Jaxson Hayes, so Hachimura often has to function as one. They’ve been using him as the ball-screener in pick-and-roll a lot tonight and it’s largely gone well. The Lakers lead 18-8 as of this writing, but being without Hachimura for any length of time is dangerous.
UPDATE: Hachimura is back in the game in a mask. With the Lakers up 20, though, they survived his early absence.
The first few minutes belonged to the Los Angeles Lakers. The rest of the game was all Minnesota Timberwolves. After a 16-point Luka Dončić first quarter game the Lakers a 28-21 lead after one, the Timberwolves waxed them 96-67 the rest of the way to earn a critical road win in Los Angeles and take a 1-0 lead in this first-round series.
The story of the game was Minnesota’s shooting. The Timberwolves drilled 21 3-pointers, half of their 42 attempts, and a handful of those misses came in garbage time. From the beginning of the second quarter on, they just didn’t miss. They got 22 points from Anthony Edwards, but more importantly, he dished out nine assists. It was Jaden McDaniels (25 points) and Naz Reid (23) who carried the scoring burden for the Timberwolves.
The Lakers just didn’t get that kind of support from their role players. Dončić scored 37 points, but had only one assist in 40 minutes. LeBron James and Austin Reaves combined for 35 points, a total that is simply too low given how reliant this team is on offense to win games. The rest of the roster outside of those three players scored just 23 total points, many of which came in garbage time. It was an all-out team loss for the Lakers, and now they’ll have to win a road game in Minnesota at some point to take this series.
The Timberwolves thankfully got Anthony Edwards back from his cramp fairly quickly, but as soon as he came back in, Naz Reid exited. He took an elbow to the face from Jarred Vanderbilt on this layup attempt and stayed on the ground afterward seemingly in quite a bit of pain. He left the floor from there, and now Minnesota just has to hope his availability for Game 2 isn’t in danger.
UPDATE: Reid is back on the floor, so a second crisis has been averted for Minnesota.
The Lakers were on life support a few minutes ago. The Minnesota lead got as high as 27, but Anthony Edwards left the game with an apparent calf cramp, and the Lakers slowly started chipping away. At the end of the third quarter, Luka Dončić threw up a half-court prayer and it was answered off of the glass. We enter the fourth quarter with the Timberwolves holding a 94-78 lead. A 16-point lead is still enormous, but the Timberwolves won the second quarter by 18, so we know it’s possible.
Anthony Edwards just fell to the ground while attempting a layup and was in serious pain. Donte DiVincenzo fouled on the other end and Edwards immediately left the floor and hobbled to the locker room, not even getting checked out on the bench first. It looks like a calf injury at the moment, and hopefully it’s just a cramp so he can return tonight if needed.
UPDATE: it is indeed a cramp for Edwards, and he just checked back into the game. He’ll try to help the Timberwolves finish off this win.
After one quarter, Luka Dončić had nearly outscored the Timberwolves on his own. The Lakers led 28-21 in their first home game 1 in 13 years, and it was all smiles in Los Angeles. And then, the second quarter happened. A decent-sized Laker lead disappeared in a matter of minutes, and at halftime, the Timberwolves lead, 59-48.
So what’s going on? For starters, Dončić is the only Laker star holding up his end of the bargain. Dončić has 20 through two quarters, but LeBron James has 10 in a relative quiet half while Austin Reaves has just two. The Lakers have also played lackadaisical defense, allowing Minnesota to hit 11 first-half 3-pointers that were mostly wide-open. Throw in a 24-17 rebounding advantage and the Timberwolves are firmly in control here.
What’s scariest for the Lakers right now is that Minnesota has built this lead without getting much out of its best player. Anthony Edwards has just eight points on 3-of-9 shooting as the Lakers have made a concerted effort to throw help-defense in his direction. His teammates have benefitted. Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels combined for 31 points in the first half, and Minnesota is in control through two quarters.
So, that Luka Dončić guy? Turns out he’s pretty good. Through one quarter in Los Angeles, the Minnesota Timberwolves have 21 points, and Dončić is right on their tail with 16 of his own. The Lakers lead 28-21 after a quarter, but the trend of Dončić destroying Rudy Gobert in the playoffs has continued. Dončić knocked him out of the 2022 postseason when Gobert played for the Jazz, and then beat Gobert’s Timberwolves last season when he was still with the Dallas Mavericks. Now Dončić is hunting the former Defensive Player of the Year yet again to great results.
