The Los Angeles Lakers, who are 15-11 and in eighth place in the Western Conference, have some challenging games coming up. The biggest of those contests is, of course, their Christmas Day matchup against the Boston Celtics, who are tied for the NBA’s best record at 19-5.
But the Lakers will also soon face the other team that holds that league-best mark of 19-5 — the Minnesota Timberwolves. In fact, they will play Minnesota twice in the coming days — first on Thursday, Dec. 21 and then on Saturday, Dec. 30. Both of those contests will be on the road.
That will mean going up against guard Anthony Edwards, who is one of the NBA’s rising young stars and one of its most explosive offensive players. Edwards said on a recent appearance on Complex’s 360 with Speedy Morman that the one player he wants to “cook” is L.A.’s LeBron James, although he said L.A.’s defense prevents him from doing so (h/t The Sports Rush).
“I always try to do that versus LeBron but it never goes as planned because they always double-team me. I always try to cook LeBron because…you know he’s the best player in the league right now. He’s been the best player for a long time. That’s the main person who I try to cook.”
Edwards is averaging 24.2 points a game while shooting 39.4% from 3-point range so far this season.
While the Lakers’ defense may prevent him from “cooking” James, his own team’s defense will be a challenge for the Lakers. Minnesota leads the NBA in defensive rating and is second in points per game allowed at 105.8, which is extremely impressive in this era of fast-paced, souped-up offenses.
