Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Lakers – Game 1
Date: April 19th, 2025
Time: 7:30 PM CDT
Location: Crypto.com Arena
Television Coverage: ABC
Radio Coverage: KFAN FM/Wolves App/iHeart Radio
This is it. No more power rankings. No more mock trades. No more Wolves Twitter debates about Julius Randle’s minutes. After 82 emotionally abusive games—equal parts beautiful basketball and gut-wrenching collapses—the Minnesota Timberwolves are back in the playoffs for the fourth straight season, and their prize is the NBA’s equivalent of fighting the boss battle in Round One: LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and the full weight of the Los Angeles Lakers hype machine.
It’s like being cast as the red-shirted security guard in Star Trek. You’re just there to get vaporized. It’s preordained. You exist to move the plot forward for someone more famous.
That’s what they think the Wolves are. A stepping stone. A footnote. A freeze-frame in LeBron’s legacy montage. But here’s the thing: this Wolves team didn’t get the memo.
Let’s Set the Stage
The Wolves come into Game 1 as the 6-seed, fresh off a 49-33 season that would’ve earned them home court in most years… but not this one. Not in this minefield of a Western Conference where seeds 3 through 8 could have been flipped by a single shot that rimmed in-and-out in mid-January. The Lakers finished one game ahead at 50-32, landed the 3-seed, and got the first-round matchup every television executive secretly prayed for.
But dig a little deeper, and the numbers lie. These teams split the season series 2-2. Both teams defended home court. None of the matchups featured both rosters at full strength. In fact, we haven’t seen this Wolves team play this Lakers team, not once. No Edwards-Randle-Gobert three-headed monster against the LeBron-Luka hydra. The only thing we know for sure is that this series is a chess match. And Game 1 is the opening gambit.
Why the Lakers Terrify Everyone (And Why That’s a Trap)
Let’s talk about the boogeymen:
- LeBron James, the self-anointed king, entering his 1,063rd playoff game (give or take). He’s still defying time, logic, and the occasional hamstring.
- Luka Doncic, the Slovenian sorcerer, fresh off sending the Wolves into offseason therapy last year in the Western Conference Finals.
- The brand, the refs, the narratives. Let’s not pretend the Wolves will get a fair whistle here. Lakers games are ref-marinated. Always have been. Always will be.
And yet… this version of the Lakers isn’t last year’s Mavericks. Luka doesn’t have Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively skying for lobs anymore. He doesn’t have Kyrie catching fire and melting defenses like a microwave burrito. Instead, he’s got a weirdly top-heavy roster featuring LeBron, Austin Reaves (who’s fine but not scary), and Jackson Hayes, who plays like he’s perpetually waiting for his 2K rating to get patched.
The Lakers are good. But they’re not invincible. They’ve got soft spots. And the Wolves are built to poke every single one of them.
Minnesota’s Blueprint for Game 1: Shock and Awe
If the Wolves want to flip the script—and not just steal Game 1, but control the tone of the series—it starts tonight. This game is a swing state. You win Game 1 on the road, you flip the entire series. Here’s how they do it:
1. Ant Has to Be the Best Player on the Floor
Not just better than Luka. Better than LeBron, too. That’s the standard. Anthony Edwards enters this series as the guy everyone is watching. This is no longer about potential. This is about legacy-building. If he wants to be mentioned in the same breath as the league’s top-tier stars, it starts with outdueling two Hall of Famers in a series where he’s the underdog.
Edwards shot 39.5% from deep this season and led the league in makes. That’s not a fluke. But his best weapon isn’t the step-back three—it’s the first step. When he attacks, when he forces doubles, when he gets downhill and creates chaos? The entire Wolves offense hums. If he gets trigger-happy from deep, we’re in trouble. If he hunts mismatches, gets to the line, and collapses the defense? Wolves win.
2. Rudy Gobert Must Dominate the Paint (Without Fouling Out in 12 Minutes)
This is a Rudy series. The Lakers don’t have bigs who can match his size. LeBron and Luka will try to bait him into space and get him into foul trouble. That’s the plan. He needs to stay grounded, avoid the cheap ones, and own the glass. If Rudy logs 32+ minutes, the Wolves control the tempo.
3. Julius Randle: The Swing Piece
If Julius Randle plays within the system—makes the extra pass, punishes mismatches, and avoids his once-a-quarter spinning-backward-turnover routine—he becomes the difference-maker. Ant draws the double, Julius feasts. If he tries to play hero ball, the Wolves stagnate. But if he plays like he did in the 52-point third quarter against Memphis last week? He’s the X-factor the Lakers don’t have an answer for.
4. Hit the Damn Threes
This feels obvious, but it’s not. The Wolves have just enough shooters to punish help defense—DiVincenzo, NAW, Conley, Reid—but they can’t all go cold at once. LA will dare Jaden McDaniels to shoot. He needs to make them pay. Same with Naz. If they can’t consistently make the Lakers pay for overplaying their hand with Ant? Game over.
5. Hunt Luka on Defense. Over and Over Again.
Last postseason, Luka got to hide on defense far too often. No more. Ant needs to go at him. Terrence Shannon Jr. needs to go at him. Jaylen Clark needs to pick his pocket at half court. The Wolves have the depth to rotate bodies, push the pace, and wear Luka down. He will get buckets. But he can’t be allowed to rest.
Final Thoughts: This Isn’t a Feel-Good Story—It’s a Statement
This game isn’t about history. It’s not about the ghosts of the KG era, or the Wiggins years, or the time we convinced ourselves Jonny Flynn was the next Chris Paul (don’t bring it up). This is about now. This is about the Wolves standing on the national stage, facing a pair of basketball gods, and saying: we belong here.
Ant’s time is now. Rudy’s redemption arc starts now. Finch’s chess match begins now.
And if the Wolves want to flip the Western Conference on its head?
It starts Saturday night. Game 1. Prime time.
No fear. No excuses. Let’s go.
