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The Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers just played game 1 at the Crypto.com Arena, and it was a blowout victory for the Timberwolves. Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, and Naz Reid had big games, combining for 70 points in a 22 point win. On the Lakers side, LeBron James had a sluggish first quarter, not even scoring 1 point. He played better down the stretch, finishing with 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists, along with solid defense. Austin Reaves had 16/3/3 and didn't have much of an impact in this game. Leading the game in scoring was Luka Doncic, who scored 37 points, along with 8 rebounds and an assist. The Lakers role-players didn't accomplish much this game, and got outscored 13-43 by Minnesota's bench. Here are some of our takeaways for this game and the rest of the series.
Key Takeaway 1: Lakers Need More Intensity
Lakers need to play with more intensity for all four quarters if they want to be competitive. Too many times they don't play hard and make careless mistakes. This leads to them being in holes like they were in this game. If the Lakers want to win this series, they have to be playing playoff level defense and limiting turnovers, especially later in the game. The Lakers had 13 turnovers, compared to the Timberwolves's 10.
Key Takeaway 2: Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels
Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels went off for a combined 48/14/4 and had a combined plus-minus of 40. These are the two players that won the game for Minnesota. Jaden McDaniels specifically played amazing defense, shot 11-13 from the field, and snagged 4 offensive rebounds! On the other hand, Laker's role-players played terribly. Rui Hachimura had 9 points on 9 shots, Jaxson Hayes got 3 rebounds and did basically nothing else, and Gabe Vincent and DFS had 6 points and 3 boards on 1-8 shooting. If Minnesota's role-players keep on performing this well, it's not going to be a competitive series.
Key Takeaway 3: 3 PT Shooting
The Minnesota Timberwolves shot 21-42, or 50% from 3. Naz Reid led the team with 6 threes, followed by 4 for Julius Randle and Anthony Edwards. While they (probably) won't keep on shooting like this for the rest of the series, a lot of these were open shots. This goes back to the Laker's lack of intensity at times. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers shot 15-41 from three, or 36.6%. Luka Doncic led the team with 5/10 shooting from the arc, and Gabe Vincent, Dorian Finney-Smith, and LeBron James combined for 3 threes on 3/11 shooting. If Lakers want to have a chance, they have to shoot better and guard up on these 3 point shots.
Overall Series Takeaway
While this was only one game, it may be a telling sign for the rest of the series. The Timberwolves front court played amazing, and they outscored the Lakers 44-32 in the paint, as a whole. They also shot amazing, and played very good defense (Jaden McDaniels the entire game, and Ant on LeBron). Lakers need to get hot from 3 and hope for some big games from their bench. Otherwise, Timberwolves in 5.
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