Timberwolves 116, Lakers 104: A Clutch Time Closeout

The Wolves bucked two trends that have made themselves known: slow starts and slow finishes. On Friday, it resulted in a Game 3 win to put Minnesota up 2-1 in the series.

A packed-to-the-gills Target Center lit up (you can take that in multiple ways) for a rubber match game three between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers. Not only were the Wolves coming off a season-low 85 points in game two, but they had to rebound early from scoring seven points in the first seven minutes, and end their early game offensive struggles, something Mike Conley vowed they would do in practice during the week.

First Half

Is Conley Nostradamus? Perhaps. The Wolves couldn’t have asked for a better start out of the gate, given the shooting struggles that previously plagued them (5-25 from three in game two). After an 8-7 scoreboard out of the gate, a momentous challenge for the Wolves in an out-of-bounds call off of Rui Hachimura was overturned.

In a stoppage of play that would typically give anyone pause who wants Wolves’ offense to keep flowing, the Wolves kept pouring it on. Even with a 2-6 first quarter from Anthony Edwards, and a hot start from Jaden McDaniels on both ends of the floor (4-5 from the field and the primary defender on a 1-6 Luka Dončić), opening up the game with a 32-26 start.

Unfortunately, it was a tale of two quarters. The Wolves would open up the next frame ice cold from the field with an inverse performance from LA. Similarly to the opening quarter of game two, Minnesota scored just seven points in the opening six minutes and loosened up defensive containment, allowing the Lakers to creep back into it.

A certain expletive-laced adjective to describe LeBron James’ pull-up threes is the ideal way to portray two consecutive 25-footers, and the Lakers would gain a 43-39 lead with 5:38 left in the quarter. At the end of the half, what started out as a hot shooting night quickly turned into a 23 percent half from the field and 42 percent from the field, LA besting both.

At that point, the Wolves would have to make a choice with Laker energy infused back into the game on a bad Luka shooting night to start. Can you capitalize or can’t you?

Second Half

A Jaden McDaniels-led charge out of the gate to stay true to his first-half performance parlayed into a continued strange Anthony Edwards statline. Ant, struggling continually at finishing layups, bucked the efficiency trend from behind the 3-point line (Edwards was 50 percent from three at the end of the third quarter).

The good news is he was still able to find high percentage looks inside despite a tough night finishing at the rim.

It was the stretch run that ended up deciding the game. A fortuitous Mike Conley banked-in jump-shot widened the lead to five points with nine minutes left, and set the Wolves up with a ripe opportunity to close the game out, even with the Lakers shooting 46 percent from three.

But it was a workmanlike clutch-time closeout, led by number five. Was that there during the season? Maybe not, but it showed up at the right time.

The Timberwolves closed out the Lakers in Game 3, winning by a final score of 116-104. McDaniels was sensational the entire game, scoring 30 points on 13-22 shooting from the field. Edwards put up great numbers as well with 29 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. LeBron James has a turn-back-the-clock performance, leading all scorers with 38 points.

---

Key Takeaways

Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Jaden McDaniels Masterclass

For the second time in this series, the Timberwolves defeated the Lakers, and Jaden McDaniels was their leading scorer in the game. Jaden had possibly the best game of his NBA career with 30 points on 13-22 shooting, driving right at Luka Dončić every time he touched the ball.

The Timberwolves now lead this series 2-1, and Edwards has yet to lead them in scoring in any of the three games. That fact is a testament to both the depth of the Wolves team and the outstanding performance from McDaniels.

Edwards opened his time on the podium with the media showing love for Jaden.

“I got two words for you: Jaden McDaniels. It’s just that simple. Once again. He’s been incredible for us all year.”

Jaden spoke to the media after the game as well about how he tries to impact each game in this series, and where he found success tonight.

“Yeah. Just trying to stay in the flow of the offense. Not forcing stuff. I know they’re going to put lesser defenders on me so trying to get switches for my teammates like Ant, Julius, even Naz, so they can attack them as well. Just playing confidence miss or make and continuing to attack.”

Tonight, McDaniels showed why his play is so often the barometer for this Wolves team. His defensive talent and execution are undeniable, but when he can punish the opposing team for putting their worst defender on him, it greatly boosts the Minnesota offense.

When the Wolves traded for Rudy Gobert almost three years ago, they needed to include extra draft capital to keep McDaniels out of the deal. Performances like this from McDaniels show why that was such a priority for the Wolves front office. They saw the potential for Jaden to be this type of player, and that is paying dividends in this series.

In the immortal words of Anthony Edwards: They got KD (or in this case, LeBron), but we got Jaden McDaniels.

Successful clutch-time minutes

It has been a roller coaster of a season for the Wolves late in close games. The Wolves led the NBA in clutch games played and struggled mightily in those games, leading only the Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat in clutch-time net rating among playoff teams.

The issues late in games caused the Wolves to slide down the standings this year. Despite finishing fourth in total net rating on the season, a number that would indicate they should have finished as the two seed in the Western Conference, their poor play late in close games caused them to win only 49 games, giving them the sixth seed.

Tonight was their first taste of a close game in the playoffs, and they passed that test with flying colors. With the game tied at 103-103 with 4:37 left in the game, the Wolves closed on a 13-1 run, shutting the Lakers down on defense while Ant found quality looks for both himself and his teammates on offense.

The dagger came with just over a minute left in the game, with Edwards raising up over Dorian Finney-Smith, hitting a foot on the line 2-pointer to put the Timberwolves up nine.

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch spoke after the game about the clutch-time play of both Ant and the Wolves as a whole.

“We picked the perfect time to kind of close the game. Our best closing effort of the year, no doubt, both sides of the ball. I thought we did a good job of executing and getting good looks. Obviously Ant was huge, made some dagger shots, but our defense was pretty much there and we trusted the pass at the right time and so yeah, so it was a really great job. Low turnovers, against a ton of physicality. Naz was huge. Everyone was huge. I thought in many ways, Naz showed up at just the right time we needed him to splash a couple of 3s and he did.”

Mike Conley in the locker room after the game had a similar sentiment about Edwards’ play late in the game.

“He was completely in control, and that’s what we’ve been wanting from him. Tonight was a great step in the right direction for late game for us. He’s going to have the ball, he’s going to make a lot of decisions, but for him to see the court, manage the court, make plays for guys in big moments just shows that he’s really trying. He’s really working at it. And hopefully this is one of many more opportunities for him.”

Against a team with LeBron and Luka, winning close games late was always going to be a challenge. Both of those players are such smart basketball players, and the Wolves have first-hand experience of what Dončić can do late in playoff games.

In Game 3, the Timberwolves were able to put a lot of those worries to bed by dominating the game late with smart decisions and great execution. Now, with a 2-1 series lead, they look to take complete control of the series in Game 4 on Sunday afternoon.

LeBron the ageless wonder

In the 2013 NBA Finals, the defensive strategy of the San Antonio Spurs was to let LeBron shoot from the outside, believing that he would not make enough jump shots to win the series. They may have been right if not for Ray Allen’s famous game-tying shot from the corner in Game 6, but almost 12 years later, that strategy stands in stark contrast to what we saw tonight in Game 3.

With Dončić dealing with the effects of a stomach bug, the Lakers needed James to pick up the scoring load. He did just that, scoring 38 points on 13-21 shooting, including five 3-pointers, one of which Edwards said, “He was shooting from Yucatan.”

It was a turn-back-the-clock performance from the 40-year-old basketball legend, one that even Wolves fans rooting against him can respect. While James has shown few signs of aging, even as his son joins him in the NBA, there is no telling how long LeBron will keep playing.

When he does retire, it will mark the end of an era, as LeBron has been the NBA’s flagship player for over two decades, with Anthony Edwards appearing to be a player who could take over that mantle as “face of the league.”

For now, though, the Timberwolves were able to overcome James’s outstanding performance to take a 2-1 series lead, just needing two wins to win a playoff series in two consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history.

---

Up Next

After having two days off following both Games 1 and 2, the series tempo kicks into gear as the Wolves and Lakers face off for a Game 4 matinee on Sunday at 2:30 PM CT. Fans can watch the national broadcast airing on ABC.

---

Game Highlights