In an amazing upset, the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers in just five games, with a 103–96 road win to capture the series. Rudy Gobert’s 27 points and 24 rebounds, both career highs for him in the playoffs, helped the six seed Timberwolves beat the three seed Lakers.
While Gobert was criticized for not playing well in the playoffs in the past, he shut them up by taking advantage of the Lakers’ small-ball play. Since Los Angeles decided to rest center Jaxson Hayes, Gobert took over the paint, grabbing nine offensive boards, a huge help to Minnesota’s defense. Despite only making 7 of 47 shots from beyond the arc (14.9%), they dominated the boards 54–37, leading them to a huge win.
Timberwolves head coach, Chris Finch had this to say after the game, “We didn’t shoot the ball well, but I thought we were the tougher team mentally and physically.”
Julius Randle scored 23 points, and Anthony Edwards had a bad shooting night (5-19 from the field) but still scored 15 points and grabbed 11 boards. Edwards played the underdog and scored 26.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 6.4 assists over the course of the series.
The Lakers’ attack let them down at key times, as they were outscored 127–85 in the fourth quarters of the series. In the last few minutes of Games 4 and 5, Luka Dončić and LeBron James shot just 4 out of 18 shots.
During Game 5, Dončić scored 28 points and had nine assists, while James scored 22 points. However, James hurt his left knee in the fourth quarter, causing a Grade 2 MCL sprain. If the Lakers had won, he would have been out for three to five weeks.
Some people didn’t like how rookie head coach JJ Redick chose to use his rotation, especially when he put Hayes on the bench and played Maxi Kleber, who hadn’t played since January. Brian Windhorst of ESPN called Redick’s actions before Game 5 “childish,” pointing out how emotional he was when asked questions by the reporters.
In the history of the team, this was the first time they lost a first-round match as a top-three seed. If you look at OptaSTATS, the Lakers scored only 16.9% of their points in the fourth quarter. That’s the lowest rate of any team in NBA playoff history. Dončić’s Mavericks beat the Timberwolves in the playoffs last year, and this win not only made up for it, but it also hinted at a possible power shift in the Western Conference. Minnesota beat the Golden State Warriors to move on to the playoffs. As of May 8, the series was tied 1–1.
The Lakers don’t know what will happen during the summer. James, who is 40 years old, is being asked about his future, and the team needs to fill some roster gaps, especially at center and defensive guard, to get back into the title race. The Timberwolves’ win over the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs shows how resilient they are, how well they can change their strategy, and how ready they are to challenge the NBA’s established order.
sources:
Silver Screen and Roll+1FOX Sports
ESPN.com, Silver Screen and Roll+1New York Post+1.
