Last season, the Minnesota Timberwolves heard how they had no chance to beat Phoenix Suns in their first round series.
Minnesota swept Suns and then sent the defending NBA master Denver Nugget’s home before it eventually lost to Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals.
Then, when this season’s first round series against the Los Angeles Lakers approached, similar comments circulated. Few people gave Timberwolves a chance to take down Lebron James, Luka Doncic and friends.
Well, Minnesota still appeared for game 1 in Los Angeles – but the Lakers didn’t.
Timberwolves 117, Lakers 95.
Minnesota exceeded Los Angeles with 29 points during the last three quarters. Timberwolves were very physical and Lakers did not answer.
The game was so unilateral that Lakers legend Magic Johnson swept the team on social media and also based coach JJ Redick for his lack of adjustments.
When a homer like The Magic Man rips the team, you know it was an ugly performance.
Minnesota wrestled HomeCourt Advantage away by holding the Lakers to 39.8% shooting. Jaden McDaniels had 25 points on 11-of-13-shooting in addition to his usual suffocating defense.
Naz Reid drilled six 3 points while he got 23 points from the bench. Los Angeles’ bench combined for only 13 total points.
Study the competition deeper, and you know this is must-win territory Tuesday evening for Lakers.
If Los Angeles falls behind 0-2, it will be a tough road-as Anthony Edwards will go out 35 or 40 points a few times before this series ends.
Although the view benefits the Lakers, Minnesota was one of the hottest teams in the NBA along the route.
Timberwolves were only three matches above .500 when Mars started before a dryid 17-4 end. Minnesota finished with 49 wins, just one fewer than the Lakers.
Edwards delivered their usual solid performances and Rudy Gobert rose his defense and recovered. Acquisitions outside the Julius Randle season looked more comfortable, while guys like Reid and Donte Divincenzo delivered by the bench.
McDaniels is one of the league’s foremost defensive players, and Veteran Mike Conley, a former Stalwart, has a fully complementary role where his intelligence is much more important for the operation than his point.
Throw in Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Minnesota is eight-deep without much drop-off. You do not need a major rotation during the season, and Timberwolves are ready to go to war with this group.
Of course, preparations for game 2 are most important. Lakers need that game before the series moves to Minneapolis.
“We know it will be a long series,” said Timberwolves coach Chris Finch. “We are not under any assumption that there will be this type of game in Game 2. It will be a completely different game.”
Minnesota was 21 out of 42 from 3-point intervals, with many of the shots of the wide open variety.
Los Angeles received 37 points from Doncic and 58 from the rest of the team. Of course, Doncic had problems in defense in game 1, as surely Maverick’s Director General Nico Harrison was pleased to see it developed after repeatedly made thin crafted comments about “defense winning championships” as his motivation for loosening Doncic.
James was not so sprung in Game 1 and scored 19 points with only three assists. Los Angeles needs a great time from LBJ if it even comes the series Tuesday.
Lakers has Austin Reaves to go with James and Doncic, but their frontcourt is thin since the trade with Anthony Davis to Dallas. There are not enough horses to make a legitimate championship, so their three main corps must click every night.
It also allows Gert to cheat on defense without fear that it will lead to a simple Los Angeles basket.
When you break down the races, this is a smooth series – despite all the “Lakers has the edge” talk.
The team shared the four-game regular season series, with the home team that won every time.
Timberwolves broke through in Game 1, and another victory Tuesday would set the stage for another first series of victory.
Maybe the Lakers team is in trouble.
