After two frustrating years, the Los Angeles Lakers have finally returned to the NBA playoffs. They will be the seventh seed in the Western Conference and will take on the Memphis Grizzlies to begin the postseason.
But they had to earn that spot with a play-in tournament victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday — and it wasn’t pretty at all.
Minnesota surprised the crowd at Crypto.com Arena by going up 28-22 at the end of the first quarter and 60-49 at halftime as the Lakers had plenty of problems on both ends of the floor. Karl-Anthony Towns and crew shot 58.8% in the first half, while L.A. seemingly couldn’t buy a basket outside of the paint.
After the Timberwolves went up by 15 with 4:59 left in the third quarter, the game turned when Towns picked up his fourth foul and spent the rest of the night in foul trouble. The Lakers picked up their defense, while Minnesota grew slow and stagnant offensively, allowing them to chip away at their deficit.
They finally tied the game at 95 on a LeBron James 3-pointer with 2:02 left in the fourth quarter. When he found Dennis Schroder for a 3-pointer of his own to put them up 98-95 with 1.4 ticks remaining, it looked like they were on their way to victory — until Anthony Davis fouled Mike Conley on a 3-point attempt with 0.1 seconds left.
Conley, who almost single-handedly kept Minnesota in it throughout, made all three free throws to force overtime. But it had little left at that point, and the Lakers flexed their way to a 108-102 win.
This was an ugly, low-scoring game; both teams combined for 40 turnovers. But the Purple and Gold certainly earned and deserved victory by outrebounding the Timberwolves by six and attempting nine more free throws while holding them to 16 combined points in the fourth period and overtime.
Anthony Davis: B-plus/A-minus
Davis played with plenty of energy tonight, even if he scored a little less than he is used to. Minnesota threw double teams his way when he got the ball on the block, but he was still very effective, going 10-of-19 and scoring 24 points while dishing four assists.
He was a beast on the boards, as he usually is, gobbling up 15 rebounds, with nine of them coming on the offensive boards. Defensively, he blocked three shots and added two steals. Down the stretch, he stepped it up on that end of the floor, particularly when matched against Towns.
Davis forced a key over-and-back turnover with 21.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter when Kyle Anderson attempted to make something happen.
The superstar big man also gutted the game out: A sore shoulder caused him discomfort at times. But he played through it and did what he needed for the Lakers to win.
LeBron James: A-minus
After looking tired and possibly a bit disinterested at times near the end of the regular season, James came to play on Tuesday. He shot 12-of-21 overall and 3-of-6 from downtown, giving him 30 points, to go along with 10 rebounds and six assists.
He played with good energy, making the effort to run the floor in transition, especially as a trailer on the fast break, and he even made a defensive impact, drawing a charging foul and blocking two shots.
The blemish for James was his five turnovers, some of which came on sloppy plays. He threw the ball away on an inbound pass with 17.1 seconds left in overtime and L.A. up by only three, but luckily for the Lakers, Taurean Prince missed a 3-pointer on the ensuing fast break, and that was it for Minnesota.
D'Angelo Russell: D-plus/C-minus
Russell played very poorly offensively against his former team, going just 1-of-9 and missed all four of his 3-point attempts. Perhaps as a result, head coach Darvin Ham opted to bench him down the stretch in favor of Schroder.
However, Russell dished eight assists while committing one turnover in 24 minutes. It’s certainly a positive for the Lakers that he’s able to contribute in a positive manner in that department even when he’s struggling with his shot.
But make no mistake: They will need him to shoot well if they are to win at least one playoff series.
Jarred Vanderbilt: B
Vanderbilt went scoreless and produced just three rebounds in 22 minutes. However, those stats obscure his real impact on the game.
Yes, he fumbled the ball multiple times when his teammates found him underneath the basket, which mucked up L.A.’s offense in the first half. But he showed good activity on the boards early, going after offensive rebounds and allowing his team to get second-shot opportunities.
Defensively, Vanderbilt mostly guarded Anthony Edwards, and he caused the Timberwolves’ All-Star guard to go 3-of-17 and score just nine points while committing four turnovers. He also drew a charging foul on Towns.
Austin Reaves: C
It was a rough night for Reaves, who shot 4-of-13 overall and 1-of-5 from beyond the arc. He looked to create contact as he usually does, but he didn’t get the calls he often does and ended up attempting only three free throws.
But Reaves helped spark a second-quarter spurt for L.A. in the second quarter by scoring back-to-back fast break buckets to bring it within one point.
Overall, he finished with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and three turnovers in 39 minutes.
Dennis Schroder: B-plus
Schroder helped turn the game around in the second half. He scored seven straight points right after entering the contest with 5:59 left in the period to start the Lakers’ run, and his defensive effort in shadowing Minnesota’s ball-handlers also helped spark their improved defense down the stretch.
He finished with 21 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal, and he led his team with eight free throw attempts, all of which were successful. What makes his performance even more impressive was the fact that he twisted his ankle in the first half and came out of the game while looking like he was in considerable pain.
Troy Brown Jr.: D-plus/C-minus
Brown struggled offensively, shooting just 1-of-5 overall and 0-of-3 from downtown. But he did contribute four rebounds, two steals and two assists to help L.A.’s cause.
Rui Hachimura: B
Hachimura gave the Lakers a spark off the bench with 12 points while making 2-of-5 from 3-point range in 27 minutes off the bench. He also had some good moments defensively against Towns, who started the game hot by making his first five shots but went 3-of-7 the rest of the way.
Malik Beasley: B
Beasley played just 14 minutes, but he was fairly productive. He shot 2-of-3, including 1-of-2 from downtown, with his lone 3-pointer coming during the start of the Lakers’ run late in the third quarter.
Wenyen Gabriel: Incomplete
Gabriel played just two minutes, and he made no positive contribution on the stat sheet while committing two personal fouls.
