The Timberwolves got their first round playoff series started with a bang Saturday night going on the road and dominating the Lakers 117-95. Minnesota got behind early, but rallied and started dropping in threes from all over the place. Naz Reid was one of those who contributed from outside the arc, hitting a few in the second half that defied physics and finishing with an astounding 23-points off the bench. Anthony Edwards had a quiet game (a quiet game for Anthony Edwards) only because he didn’t lead his team in scoring with 22. Jaden McDaniels led the T-Wolves with 25-points in the win.
Luka Doncic shined for the Lakers, scoring 37, but it would prove that you can’t win with just on guy as no one else on the LA roster could seem to get it going. Lebron James only finished with 19, and no other Laker scored more than 16.
It seems the Timberwolves, who come in as a six-seed against the three-seeded Lakers, have found a chink in the Lakers armor underneath the hoop on both ends. Minnesota dominated the Lakers on the offensive and defensive boards, tallying 14 more rebounds than the Lakers. When you give an NBA team a second chance to score, they are usually going to as the Timberwolves did on Saturday.
Minnesota shot an astonishing 50% from three-point range to the Lakers 36% and was a huge factor in stretching out the Game 1 lead, but that is not something the Timberwolves can rely on in Game 2. Shooting 50% from three is a lot like the Reds tallying 25 hits yesterday against the Orioles, it’s not the type of thing you see happen very often. Hopefully the Timberwolves can continue their hot-shooting in tomorrow night’s game, if they win they will take a commanding 2-0 series lead back home to Minnesota where they could win the series. Tomorrow’s Game 2 will tip late again, 9:00 PM CT on TNT.
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