Wolves 97, Lakers 87: A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Win

In one of the least inspiring wins for the Wolves this season, the Minnesota defense smothered the Lakers, allowing only 87 points in the game

After four consecutive off days, the Minnesota Timberwolves are finally back in action against the Los Angeles Lakers. It is the Wolves’ first home game in almost two weeks when they beat these same Lakers 109-80.

LeBron James did not play due to a sore right foot and is away from the team for personal reasons. When asked before the game if he had an update on when James would be back, Lakers coach JJ Redick responded with one word: “No.”

Both teams would come out with low-energy, clearly out of rhythm from the four consecutive off days. The Wolves defense would take control of the game in the first quarter, forcing the Lakers into 11 turnovers including four steals by Jaden McDaniels, leading to a 32-23 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Minnesota’s offense would start the second quarter frozen in ice as they would miss their first 13 shots from the field including seven layups or dunks, breathing life into a seemingly apathetic Laker team. The Timberwolves lead would shrink to as few as two points before a McDaniels and-1 layup in transition pushed it back to five.

The Wolves would push the lead back to as high as ten before an Austin Reaves 3-pointer following an offensive rebound from an Anthony Davis missed free throw would cut the lead to 50-44 at the halftime break.

Julius Randle was the Wolves first-half leading scorer with 15 points on 6-10 shooting. McDaniels scored 13 points on 5-8 shooting including two makes from beyond the arc. Anthony Edwards only had seven points and one assist. Davis led the way for the Lakers in the first half with 14 points.

Both teams would come out of the locker room playing incredibly lackadaisical energy, which was a trend for most if not all of the game. The Wolves offense had constant heavy-iso possessions only to be outdone by the Lakers who struggled to score the entire game.

Minnesota was able to build their lead as high as 15 before a run by Los Angeles down the stretch of the third quarter cut the lead down to eight. Rob Dillingham had seen enough, draining this 3-pointer behind a Gobert screen.

The Timberwolves would carry that 77-66 lead into the fourth quarter where the Wolves would continue their poor play on offense, allowing the Lakers to cut the lead to only five points.

McDaniels would continue his outstanding on both ends with this gorgeous block helping off of his assignment.

Both offenses would stall out even more than they had in the first three quarters, only scoring 21 combined points over the first nine and a half minutes of the fourth quarter, leaving the Wolves with a six-point lead to protect down the stretch of the game.

Using a play that was so often their answer in clutch-time last year, a pick-and-roll between Gobert and Mike Conley led to a layup for the big man, giving Minnesota an eight-point lead.

That would prove to be enough for the Wolves as they held on for a 97-87 win, holding the Lakers to below 90 points in back-to-back matchups.

Edwards led the way for the Wolves with 23 points on 9-20 shooting, adding six rebounds. McDaniels was sensational the entire game scoring 18 points along with nine rebounds and five steals. Davis was the leading scorer for the Lakers with 23 points on 10-21 shooting.

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Key Takeaways

Photo by David Berding/Getty Images

Jaden McDaniels Fantastic on Both Ends of the Floor

For the second straight game against the Lakers, the Timberwolves defense held Los Angeles to fewer than 90 points in the game. They strangled a Lakers offense that struggled to find quality looks the entire game.

A huge part of the was McDanels who, along with 18 points, contributed five steals and two blocks. Many of those plays came when Jaden was not guarding the Lakers’ primary offensive player. After the game, Wolves coach Chris Finch talked about the impact Jaden had as an off-ball defender.

“He’s long been one of our best low men and rim protectors. Getting him there is not always easy given the other matchup priorities that we have. But for sure, he had that big block tonight from there, and of course, he’s going to rebound better when he’s down there.”

McDaniels was also a big part of the Timberwolves offense which struggled the entire game. Finch spoke about McDaniels finding success in the offense which had little to no ball movement the entire game.

“He’s gotten a few in transition. We’ve been trying to stress that, and he’s been the beneficiary of some of it, but some of it has been off steals. Some of it is kick aheads. He did a good job there, and I thought he stayed patient in the offense, made a couple shots. All of the shots he took, I thought, looked good from three. But yeah, timely plays.”

Jaden spoke in the locker room about being an off-ball defender and finding more success in that role.

“Yeah, I enjoy it, just to be able to me low man sometimes, be able to get blocks and stuff. I don’t care where I’m at. I just try to do my best for real.”

McDaniels had an up-and-down start to the season defensively but has found the defensive intensity that allowed him to make an All-Defense team last year. Offensively, on a night where many other players were not able to find success, McDaniels saved the Wolves from what could have been a disastrous loss to a struggling Lakers team.

Offense Continues to Struggle

After finishing 17th in offense a season ago, the Timberwolves looked to improve on an offense that was a big reason they lost the Western Conference Finals to the Dallas Mavericks.

Instead of improving their offense, so far this season, the offensive problems have become even worse. Coming into the night, they were ranked 20th in offensive rating, a number that is sure to go down after a performance like tonight.

Rudy Gobert talked about what needs to change with the offense to reach the level they know they can get to.

“I think it’s habits. It’s running to the corners. Space for me when I walk to the basket. It collapses the defense so I do that for my teammates. When I run the floor, it collapses the defense, so I do that for my teammates. Understanding the tendencies of, if I see that it’s picking a wall between Julius and Ant, I’m going to be spacing in specific way. If I see that it’s someone else, I’m going to try to be spaced. I try to consciously space for my teammates and help them have a chance to make the play and then have them have a chance to punish the defense with the pass or with the finish of the three.”

There have been signs of life with the offense including a 3-point barrage to start the season, increased synergy between Randle, Edwards and the rest of the team, and the improving play of Conley and Donte DiVincenzo who started of the year poorly.

For now, it appears the defense will likely carry the Wolves enough to win games like tonight, but at some point the offense will need to greatly improve if they hope to repeat or surpass what the did a season ago.

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Up Next

The Timberwolves head back out on the road for their second game this season against the San Antonio Spurs. The game will begin at 6:00 PM CT, airing on FanDuel Sports Network North.

Following that game they have another three days off before returning home for the matchup between Karl-Anthony Towns and the New York Knicks.

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Game Highlights