Melissa Rohlin
FOX Sports NBA writer
After the Minnesota Timberwolves the Los Angeles Lakers surprised in game 1 of their first round Playoff series, with up to 27 points on Los Angeles’ home field, Anthony Edwards was asked if he had a message for all national media media that
“Not a message, man,” said Edwards, “they still have the Lakers. The Lakers are suppered to win. That is exactly how it should go. We shouldn’t be here. So we’ll just compete.”
Edwards played the cool, but the Timberwolves presented an emphatic message in Esir 117-95 on Saturday: Don’s sleep on us.
Yes, the Lakers are the third seed and have two of the greatest superstars in the competition in LeBron James and Luka Doncic. But the Timberwolves reached the Western Conference Finals last season, and although they had Submo -Hobbels this season, they are deep, physically and hungry.
Things quickly got out of hand for the Lakers. They had control in the first quarter, with Maid scored 16 points to give the Lakers on a 28-21 lead, there are James and Austin Reaves to Combined 0-for-for-5 above that audience. It seemed like it would certainly stop the Timberwolves as soon as the locks opened for his other two superstars.
The only problem was that James and Reaves remained cold, so Doncic left against the Timberwolves team on an island that was about to get on fire. In the second quarter, the Timberwolves defeated the Lakers, 38-20. The ship took place in the third quarter, with the Timberwolves from the break with an 11-0 run.
The Lakers did not lose alone. They were humiliated. Sometimes it seemed that they even tried it, with them gesturing their frustration of reducing defense.
The question now is: are the Lakers in trouble?
They are clearly not panicking: “We let go of the rope,” said Doncic, who had 37 points and eight rebounds. “I think they just beat us physically from the Get-G,” said Reaps, who had 16 points on 5-out-13 shooting. “We have to control the controllables better,” said James, who had 19 points, although it cost him 18 shots to get them.
The fans of Crypto.com Arena, who openly cheered the night in the celebration of the Lakers who had a benefit for the home field in the play-offs for the first time since 2020, were amazed in almost silver in the second quarter.
The Timberwolves overwhelmed the Lakers-on defense, with swarming bodies, and on attack, with a 3-point inland shipping, making a franchise playoff-Rerord 21 3-Pointers on 42 petters from outside (50 percent). Jaden McDaniels scored 25 points. Naz Reid added 23 points with six 3-Pointers. And Edwards had 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
It was a complete team effort for the Timberwolves, who looked into things in perspective despite their dominant performance.
“It means game 1,” said Minnesota -Coach Chris Finch. “We know it will be a long series. We are not assumed that it was about this kind of game to be in game.
Both teams had about a week off after they had arranged their respective seeds.
But with the way things were played on Saturday, it seemed as if the Lakers misled that their recent success were participating in the late season, while the Timberwolves prepared for war.
Heck, the Timberwolves were even locked up during the plane ride to Los Angeles.
“The four hours we were on our way, we talked, we watched games when [the Lakers] Played against OKC, when they played against Dallas, “said Edwards.
It all worked for the Timberwolves, who made it clear that they can ”
As far as the Lakers is concerned, they hope that game 1 was only an anomaly, in contrast to the beginning of the end.
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously dealt with the competition for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Turn the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow Twitter @Melissarohlin.
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