The Los Angeles Lakers were ashamed of their local court to begin the NBA playoffs on Saturday night, since the Minnesota Timberwolves were expired 117-95 in a game in which the headlines did not even need to remain on the floor during the fourth quarter.
The Lakers are the seed number 3 at the West Conference to begin these playoffs, but the Timberwolves went out with their offensive to give them the only loss of the local team on the opening night of the playoffs.
The low performance led to the legend of the Lakers to try to turn on a fire under its old squad.
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The Guard of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards, goes to the Los Angeles Lakers Guard, Austin Reaps on Crypto.com Arena. (Images Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn)
“Tonight was one of the worst performances of the Lakers this season,” Magic Johnson wrote in X. “They were flat, they had no energy and played as if it were a regular season game.”
Johnson did not end there, since he also pointed a finger to chief coach JJ Redick.
Are the Lakers in trouble after their 22 points to the Timberwolves at home?
“The coach JJ Redick did a great job throughout the season, but did not do a good job for game 1,” Johnson continued. “The Lakers stood on the offensive, played too much basketball one and did not make any necessary adjustment.”
If adjustments were made, they did not work against the offensive attack of Minnesota, which fired 51.2% from the field as equipment and 50% beyond the arch.
The Timberwolves were raining three, going 21 of 42 with the great Naz Reid man holding his hot hand, burying six of his nine three -point attempts.
The Guard of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards, passes to the Angels Lakers Rui Hachimura in Crypto.com Arena. (Images Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn)
Anthony Edwards, who was near notches a triple double with 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, also hit four three despite an unstable exit (8 for 22 shots in general). Jaden McDaniels was highly efficient with 25 points on the team in 11 of 13 shots with nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, the Lakers had problems throughout the game, shooting 39.8% from the field. Luka Doncic was the exception, going 12 of 22 from the field, and 5 out of 10, for a maximum of 37 points. LeBron James had 8 of 18, while Austin Reaves was only 5 of 13.
The angels led after the first quarter, but the Timberwolves warmed up in the second and never looked back. At the end of the game, the headlines of both teams were resting, and Minnesota put it out of reach.
James spoke after the game, where he recognized the offensive power of the Timberwolves.
Magic Johnson speaks during a ceremony that celebrates the induction of Michael Cooper in the Basketball Hall of Fame in the part -time of a game between the Lakers and Nuggets of Denver on Crypto.com Arena on April 25, 2024 in Los Angeles. (Allen Berezovsky/Getty images)
“They will be physical,” he explained. “That is what they bring to the table. It took us a game … (to) understand that. They took the advantage of the court of us tonight, but we have to control the controllable, and if we do that, we will have many better opportunities to win than tonight.”
The Lakers and the Timberwolves are back in action on Tuesday for game 2 of their first round confrontation.
