Despite a monster LeBron James performance, the Lakers lost a brutal Game 3 on Friday, falling to the Wolves 116-104.
LA played from behind for much of the night and relied heavily on LeBron to keep them alive, including a string of three straight 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Turnovers were a backbreaker for the purple and gold as they committed 16, leading to 28 Minnesota points.
Anthony Edwards put the finishing touches on the Lakers in the fourth, making big play after big play, including the game-sealing 3-pointer with just over a minute remaining to put Minnesota up nine.
LeBron scored 22 of his 38 points in the first half. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out four dimes. Austin Reaves ended with 20 points and seven rebounds. Luka Dončić, who was battling a stomach bug during the game, scored 17 points on 6-16 shooting to go with his seven rebounds and eight assists.
Dorian Finney-Smith pitched in with eight points. Rui Hachimura had eight points and four rebounds while playing fantastic defense all night. Jordan Goodwin played huge fourth quarter minutes, finishing with three points, two rebounds, one steal and one block.
Los Angeles took control early with Rui scoring five points. Minnesota’s offense looked good, scoring six points to take the lead. The Timberwolves played strong defense, which led to an 11-0 run. LeBron stopped that with a layup.
LA turned the ball over four times in the opening four minutes.
The Lakers scored seven straight to make it a one-point game until a dunk by Anthony Edwards. Minnesota’s length gave Los Angeles problems defensively as they were up to 18 points in the paint.
The Lakers as a team were struggling to get it going offensively. Austin drained his second 3-pointer to provide a bit of a spark. He also found Jarred Vanderbilt for a dunk.
Despite the struggles throughout the quarter, LA was still in the game. At the end of the first, the purple and gold were down six.
Minnesota responded to a 5-0 LA run with a 5-0 burst of their own, but DFS was able to put back a Doncic miss ahead of the 1st Q conclusion to make it 32-26.
Wolves were 5 of 6 at the FT line, while LA didn’t get to the charity stripe.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) April 26, 2025
The Lakers opened the second with a turnover that led to a Naz Reid three-point play. Minnesota was capitalizing on LA’s mistakes, dominating the points-off-turnovers category 11-2. Los Angeles started heating up offensively on the shoulders of LeBron, who scored six points.
Los Angeles managed to work through their issues to stay in the game. The Wolves had to sub Edwards and Julius Randle back into the game to stop the momentum LA had built.
LeBron blocked Edwards, then drained a 3-pointer on the other end to give the Lakers the lead. Minnesota looked off and couldn’t knock down their shots. LA had built a scoring run of 13-2.
A positive for the Lakers was getting Reid into foul trouble with three. Jordan Goodwin and Vando both put in productive minutes for the team. Goodwin had a block and steal, while Vando had four rebounds.
Austin was the second Laker to reach double digits in scoring alongside LeBron. Luka struggled throughout this first half, only scoring five with two minutes left until the end of the quarter.
One of the biggest issues in this half was LA’s free-throw shooting. They were 5-11, a below-average 45%. Luka drained his first three of the game to give the Lakers a four-point lead going into halftime.
Doncic, struggling with the stomach issue all half, managed to get a step-back 3 to fall with 5.8 seconds left in the half, putting LA up 58-54.
Lakers outscored Minnesota 32-22 in the 2nd Q after the Wolves were +6 in the 1st Q.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) April 26, 2025
The second half opened with a 3-pointer by Edwards. Edwards and Jaden McDaniels combined for all 10 of Minnesota’s points to start the quarter.
Austin threw a lob to LeBron for an emphatic dunk, but that was the only good thing to happen as everything went the Timberwolves’ way. They went up by five at the first timeout.
Austin drained a 3-pointer out of the break. A missed LeBron layup led to an easy one for Edwards on the other end. Neither team could build momentum.
After more LA turnovers and a dunk by Edwards, Rui knocked down a 3-pointer to hush the Wolves crowd. Luka committed a terrible foul, leading to a three-point play by McDaniels. Gabe Vincent’s first shot of the game was a much-needed 3-pointer.
Los Angeles was up to 15 turnovers and had given up 20 points off them. Carelessness was the thorn in LA’s side.
Dorian and Luka converted on much-needed 3-pointers to rectify the team’s mistakes. At the end of the third, the Lakers were down by two.
The Wolves flipped a 4-point halftime deficit into a 7-point lead late in the 3rd, but LA got two more triples late in the 3rd (DFS and Doncic) to draw back within 2 points going into the final 12 minutes.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) April 26, 2025
Minnesota started the final frame jumping ahead by five. Gabe had opened the offense for the Lakers with a layup, but nobody else aside from LeBron had scored yet. The Timberwolves had snatched momentum away from LA.
As Los Angeles continued to play from behind, LeBron took full control, draining three insane 3-pointers in a row. Minnesota responded by pushing its lead to four. A pair of free throws from Luka made it a two-point affair with five minutes left in the game.
40-year-old LeBron James just became the oldest player to record a 35-point game in NBA playoff history, passing 38-year-old LeBron James.
— Keerthika Uthayakumar (@keerthikau) April 26, 2025
Luka then tied the game with a one-handed fadeaway, leading to a timeout by the Wolves. Out of the break, the Timberwolves pushed their lead up to seven, led entirely by Ant.
The Lakers went on a ridiculous three-minute scoring drought. Edwards and McDaniels put the final nail in coffin with five points between them.
Key Takeaways:
Wasting a masterclass performance by LeBron should count as 40 turnovers.
Speaking of turnovers…stop the turnovers!
The Lakers’ next game will be Game 4 on Sunday against the Minnesota Timberwolves at 12:30 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
