LOS ANGELES — After pushing themselves in the play-in tournament the past two years just to qualify for the postseason, the Los Angeles Lakers relished the chance to earn a week off leading into Game 1 to prepare for their first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The break might have allowed players to heal minor injuries and the coaching staff to dive into strategy, but what was clear after L.A.’s 117-95 loss to the Wolves on Saturday was that the Lakers were wholly unready for the raw, bruising physicality that Minnesota played with.
“It’s not to say our guys weren’t ready to withstand a playoff-level basketball game. … I’m not sure physically we were ready,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “And really when [the Wolves] started playing with a lot of thrust and physicality, we just didn’t respond to meet that.”
Said Lakers guard Austin Reaves: “I think that they just physically beat us from the get-go.”
From the start of the second quarter past the midway point of the third, the Wolves outscored the Lakers 67-33 as Minnesota’s plus-sized frontline of 7-1 Rudy Gobert, 6-9 Jaden McDaniels and 6-9 Julius Randle controlled the boards, forced L.A. turnovers and generally dictated the game flow with their defensive presence. Luka Doncic said L.A. “let go of the rope.”
LeBron James, who has played in the most playoff games in NBA history (including the most Game 1s), chalked it up as a costly entry fee for his team to know what to expect in the series.
“Maybe it took us one playoff game to now get a feel for it and know what type of intensity, the type of physicality is going to be brought to the game,” James said after finishing with 19 points. “But that’s just the way they play. So we should be more than prepared for that on Tuesday night [in Game 2].”
L.A., led by Doncic scoring 16 of his game-high 37 points in the first quarter, were the aggressors early, with Doncic drawing two fouls on Gobert, a foul on McDaniels and another one on Wolves’ star Anthony Edwards in the opening frame.
As Doncic got going, L.A.’s other offensive threats in James and Reaves were slow to find a rhythm as Doncic’s attacks generated shots for himself, rather than teammates. “I just tried to set the tone early,” Doncic said. “But obviously, one assist, that’s not good enough for me.”
Edwards, who scored 22 points despite cramping in his left calf, said the Wolves tried to straddle the line between pushing the boundaries in establishing what kind of contact would be allowed by the referees, while not finding themselves in foul trouble.
“Just tried to be as physical as possible,” Edwards said. “The main thing for us was, we didn’t want them to get into the bonus early. Because … you see a couple free throws go in, Luka gets into a rhythm, Bron gets into a rhythm.”
L.A. took 16 free throws compared to 11 for Minnesota.
Just two minutes into the second half, Redick benched starting center Jaxson Hayes. What the Lakers gave up in size without the 7-footer out on the court, Redick hoped he could gain in activity from going small by relying on wings Dorian Finney-Smith and Jarred Vanderbilt to slot in at the 5.
Vanderbilt had some success, helping L.A. cut the deficit from 27 to 16 in the final four minutes of the third quarter. The closest the Lakers got was 12 with 10:27 remaining before the Wolves pushed their lead back to over 20.
“I think we got to be the aggressor,” Vanderbilt said of Game 2. “I feel like they hit us first. And they were the more physical team for the majority of the game. … It’s the playoffs, man. We got to play hard. I think they were beating us to all the 50-50 balls and offensive rebounds, the loose balls. Just everything, they were winning that battle. And I think in the playoffs, the tougher team that wins that battle wins the game.”
When L.A. wasn’t getting punished inside, the Wolves were presenting problems on the perimeter, setting a postseason franchise record by hitting 21-of-42 3-point attempts. McDaniels (25 points, including 3-for-3 from 3) and Naz Reid (23 points, including 6-for-9 on 3s) were particularly devastating.
And now the Lakers say they know what to expect — with only two days off this time before tipping off Tuesday.
“It was a great atmosphere,” Doncic said. “I’m sorry we couldn’t get the win — the first win. But it’s always first to four.”
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