Lakers 94-85 Timberwolves (Apr 22, 2025) Game Recap

LOS ANGELES — — Rui Hachimura received smacked within the face early in Sport 2, and he headed to the Los Angeles Lakers’ locker room with a bleeding nostril. He was again on the court docket only one quarter later sporting a masks, which he discarded shortly afterward as a result of it irritated him.

The Lakers stated they collectively received smacked within the mouth by the blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves of their first-round collection opener. Sport 2 was all about their response — and LeBron James liked his group’s tenacity.

Luka Doncic had 31 factors, 12 rebounds and 9 assists, and the Lakers fought again to even their collection with Minnesota with a 94-85 victory Tuesday evening.

“We looked at what we didn’t do so well, which is a lot of things in Game 1,” stated James, who scored 21 factors and made a key steal within the fourth quarter. “We took it to heart, held each other accountable and had a much better result.”

Sport 3 is Friday evening in Minneapolis.

Austin Reaves added 16 for the third-seeded Lakers, who jumped out to an early 22-point lead and held on via a bodily matchup with sixth-seeded Minnesota.

Los Angeles scored solely 60 factors within the remaining three quarters, however the Wolves by no means received nearer than 9 factors. Coach JJ Redick was pleased with his gamers’ response — even when he needed to unload on them within the fourth quarter throughout a profanity-laden timeout to take care of their focus down the stretch.

“I think tonight was just more about getting that urgency button switched back on,” Redick stated.

Julius Randle scored 27 factors and Anthony Edwards had 25 for the Timberwolves, who misplaced most of their offensive fluidity from Sport 1. Edwards stated the Lakers’ defensive changes made it “kind of hard” on him.

“The way that they’re guarding us, when I catch the ball, they kind of go zone, and when I try to attack a gap, it’s like three people,” Edwards stated. “I’ve just got to make my decisions a little quicker, and we’ll be all right.”

James added 11 rebounds and 7 assists for the Lakers, who by no means misplaced management of a chippy, uneven recreation with 46 private fouls and a number of video evaluations. James and Hachimura each took onerous photographs to the face, and Hachimura donned a second masks after halftime.

The Wolves hit 21 3-pointers whereas blowing out the Lakers 117-95 in Sport 1. Los Angeles went up by 19 within the first quarter of Sport 2 whereas Doncic exploited isolations on Rudy Gobert.

“We knew they would come with high intensity, with energy,” Randle stated. “We knew it was going to be physical. … We were stagnant, missed open looks, missed layups. They were just in a rhythm.”

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AP NBA: