LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers looked like themselves for a quarter.
Luka Dončić preyed on the Minnesota Timberwolves in pick-and-rolls. When the Timberwolves sent additional help against him or rotated on drives, the Lakers moved the ball for open 3s. They beat the Wolves to loose balls and tapped out misses. Their defense rotated and swarmed, walling Anthony Edwards from the paint and corralling defensive rebounds.
But after taking a 28-21 lead entering the second quarter, the Lakers fell apart. The Wolves clobbered them 96-67 the rest of the way — including a 67-33 stretch in the middle of the game — en route to a dispiriting 117-95 loss in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series at Crypto.com Arena.
After a week-plus of chatter about the Lakers being the favorites in the series, the Wolves stole home-court advantage and flipped the misguided notion that they’re significant underdogs on its head.
“They’re one of the best teams in basketball,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “It’s not to say our guys weren’t ready to withstand a playoff-level basketball game. We were mentally ready. I thought our spirit was right. I thought even when they made runs, our huddles were great. The communication was great.
“I’m not sure physically we were ready, if that makes sense. And really, when they started playing with a lot of thrust and physicality, we just didn’t respond to meet that.”
The Lakers, as Dončić said, “let go of the rope” over the final 36 minutes as the Wolves thoroughly dominated them on both sides of the ball.
Dončić finished with 37 points — Minnesota has no answer for his scoring — but only had one assist and five turnovers. LeBron James finished with 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting. He went scoreless in the first quarter for the first time in his playoff career and was blocked and stripped several times as he struggled to attack the Wolves’ bigs off the dribble. Austin Reaves’ first half was one of his worst halves of the season. He settled for far too many contested jumpers against the Wolves’ thicket of perimeter arms.
“Obviously, we gotta do a better job of controlling the controllables,” James said. “And I don’t think we did a good enough job after the first quarter.”
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No other Lakers player scored in double figures. Rui Hachimura disappeared after being involved early. Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt combined for eight points on 3-of-11 shooting. Jaxson Hayes had one point in eight minutes as Redick decided to downsize and play center-less basketball for most of the game.
Minnesota eventually found the cracks in the Lakers’ defense, with Edwards taking exactly what the Lakers gave him and making a bunch of simple but effective reads. He finished with 22 points (on 22 shots) and had nine assists to just one turnover.
The Wolves shot 21-of-42 on 3s, generating a slew of open looks with the Lakers focused on trying to limit Edwards’ penetration. Jaden McDaniels (25 points) made 3s, attacked closeouts and overpowered the Lakers’ wings. Naz Reid (23 points) was a game-changer off the bench and a mismatch-proof antidote to the Lakers’ target-heavy offense.
Minnesota outscored LA in transition 25-6, in second-chance points 23-20, off turnovers 18-9, and in the paint 44-32. It was an all-around thrashing.
“They did all the things that we wanted to do,” Reaves said.
And putting aside the tactical and schematic components of the matchup for a moment, there was also simply the physical element: The Wolves are bigger, faster and stronger than the Lakers. The physical advantages were clear entering the series, but they were even more glaring once the two sides matched up.
The Lakers had fared well recently against bigger teams like Oklahoma City, Houston, Memphis and Dallas, but it was apparent that Minnesota’s size and ferocity disrupted the Lakers’ rhythm.
“I think that they just physically beat us from the get-go,” Reaves said.
There are some obvious adjustments for the Lakers entering Tuesday’s Game 2.
They need to be more organized offensively, running sets and actions more consistently than merely isolating and mismatch-hunting. They should refrain from targeting the Wolves’ bigs as much and instead go after the 6-foot-1 Mike Conley, whom Minnesota tried to keep out of actions. James and Dončić can also target Nickeil Alexander-Walker and DiVincenzo more, given the size discrepancy.
Defensively, the Lakers should also consider playing Edwards straight up — even if he burns them — and stop helping off Minnesota’s supporting cast as aggressively. They could also consider playing Hayes and Vanderbilt, two of their best athletes and biggest rotation players, more than a combined 22 minutes, despite the spacing concerns that come with playing both. The Lakers need a jolt of energy, which Vanderbilt provided during their 17-6 run to close the third quarter that briefly made the game interesting in the second half.
But most of all, they need to play with a greater sense of urgency — Game 2 is a must-win for them, after all — and competitive pride. They might not be able to match Minnesota from a physicality perspective, but they at least need to try.
“I think we got to be the aggressor,” Vanderbilt said. “I feel like they hit us first. And they were the more physical team for the majority of the game. … It’s the playoffs, man. We got to play hard. I think they were beating us to all the 50-50 balls and offensive rebounds, the loose balls. Just everything, they were winning that battle. And I think in the playoffs, the tougher team that wins that battle wins the game.”
James, who has played in more playoff games and more Game 1s than any player in NBA history, is known for treating Game 1 as a feel-out game. Dončić, who has led underdog teams to the conference finals and NBA Finals, is now 2-7 in Game 1s (his teams are 1-1 when winning Game 1 and 3-3 when they lose Game 1). Neither was rattled after the game, referencing the wisdom they’ve learned throughout previous playoff runs.
The Lakers should be better moving forward. It’s hard for them to play worse. That was likely the Wolves’ best shooting performance of the series. It’s unlikely that McDaniels and Reid combine for 48 points again. Game 2 should be closer.
But that doesn’t make the road ahead any easier for the Lakers. They are going to have to overcome imposing physical challenges that they have yet to figure out. They have scored under 100 points nine times this season — and three of them have now come against the Wolves.
Minnesota’s size, length and athleticism bother LA’s slower, methodical tendencies. And the next 60 hours or so will be about figuring out how to better mitigate that disadvantage before it’s too late.
“Maybe it took us one playoff game to now get a feel for it and know what type of intensity, the type of physicality is going to be brought to the game,” James said. “But that’s just the way they play. So we should be more than prepared for that on Tuesday night.”
(Photo of LeBron James: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
