2025 NBA PLAYOFFS West First Round: #3 LA Lakers vs #6 Minnesota Timberwolves (MIN leads 1-0)

[Bob8]

Will the Lakers be able to contain ANT without good rim protection, unlike Suns and Nuggets last year? How much of Hayes + Vando minutes it'll take?
Will the Wolves be able to defend the P&R against an even better Luka this year?
Will Rui punish the Wolves since they'll put their focus on Luka/LeBron/AR?
Will JJ talent as a coach overcome his lack of experience compared to Finch?

Looks like it'll be offensively oriented series.

JJ will do what he always does, if a team has 1 exceptional player. They will just swarm him. Ant being exceptional scorer and a lot worse passer should make things a lot easier than for example against Jokic, which btw worked too. Lakers have better wing defenders than Suns and Nuggets too.

Wolves can win of course, but other Wolves players will need to have exceptional series.

If Lakers can't stop Wolves, then their chances against OKC are 0 anyway. Surprisingly enough 2 games against OKC didn't show that.

[ILC]

Lakers fans already playing the victim underdog card on RGM when 68% of the poll is in their favor?

God this will be insufferable.

[Frankie]

I have Minny in 7.

Ant with an incredible series to add to his growing legacy.

[Sealab2024]

Lakers don't have the grit, physicality or bigs to run a series against this Wolves team. Minny is top 10 in both offense and defense, one of only 4 teams to rank that high in both. Dudes looking for Rudy to be played off the court should be careful what they wish for as you then get Naz Reid at the 5 with Jules and/or Jaden at the 4, which isn't exactly a great outcome for LA. Won't be easy but I've got the Wolves in 6.

Surprise may be DDV going off against the likes of Reeves.

[Bob8]

Lakers don't have the grit, physicality or bigs to run a series against this Wolves team. Minny is top 10 in both offense and defense, one of only 4 teams to rank that high in both. Dudes looking for Rudy to be played off the court should be careful what they wish for as you then get Naz Reid at the 5 with Jules and/or Jaden at the 4, which isn't exactly a great outcome for LA. Won't be easy but I've got the Wolves in 6.

Surprise may be DDV going off against the likes of Reeves.

Tell me, who was the best defensive team last year in RS?

[Sealab2024]

Lakers don't have the grit, physicality or bigs to run a series against this Wolves team. Minny is top 10 in both offense and defense, one of only 4 teams to rank that high in both. Dudes looking for Rudy to be played off the court should be careful what they wish for as you then get Naz Reid at the 5 with Jules and/or Jaden at the 4, which isn't exactly a great outcome for LA. Won't be easy but I've got the Wolves in 6.

Surprise may be DDV going off against the likes of Reeves.

Tell me, who was the best defensive team last year in RS?

Last year? Like 2023-24? It was the Wolves by a country mile.and yes, they lost to Dallas, but LA is not last years Dallas team, The Wolves aren't coming off one of the most brutal 7 game series in league history and LA doesn't have Lively and Gafford diving to the rim collapsing Minnys defense

[Bob8]

Lakers don't have the grit, physicality or bigs to run a series against this Wolves team. Minny is top 10 in both offense and defense, one of only 4 teams to rank that high in both. Dudes looking for Rudy to be played off the court should be careful what they wish for as you then get Naz Reid at the 5 with Jules and/or Jaden at the 4, which isn't exactly a great outcome for LA. Won't be easy but I've got the Wolves in 6.

Surprise may be DDV going off against the likes of Reeves.

Tell me, who was the best defensive team last year in RS?

Last year? Like 2023-24? It was the Wolves by a country mile.

And what happened with their D in Mavs series?

[Sealab2024]

Tell me, who was the best defensive team last year in RS?

Last year? Like 2023-24? It was the Wolves by a country mile.

And what happened with their D in Mavs series?

See a above. This ain't last year, it ain't the Mavericks and the Wolves get a week off.

[Bob8]

Last year? Like 2023-24? It was the Wolves by a country mile.

And what happened with their D in Mavs series?

See a above. This ain't last year, it ain't the Mavericks and the Wolves get a week off.

No it isn't. Lakers are far better offensive team than Mavs were last year and Luka is in far better condition, because he didn't need to carry his team the whole RS like last year.

[Sealab2024]

And what happened with their D in Mavs series?

See a above. This ain't last year, it ain't the Mavericks and the Wolves get a week off.

No it isn't. Lakers are far better offensive team than Mavs were last year and Luka is in far better condition, because he didn't need to carry his team the whole RS like last year.

Lakers are also far more fundamentally flawed then the Mavs were last year. The lake show is a year away. They need an off-season to balance the roster after the Luka trade wiped out their interior defense. Luka certainly makes this an exercise in rolling boulders up hill for the Wolves but this Lakers team is plain not as good as last years Mavs. Y'all forget how important that little nightmare at PG was last year for the Mavs and he didn't follow Luka to LA.

[Liam_Gallagher]

See a above. This ain't last year, it ain't the Mavericks and the Wolves get a week off.

No it isn't. Lakers are far better offensive team than Mavs were last year and Luka is in far better condition, because he didn't need to carry his team the whole RS like last year.

Lakers are also far more fundamentally flawed then the Mavs were last year. The lake show is a year away. They need an off-season to balance the roster after the Luka trade wiped out their interior defense. Luka certainly makes this an exercise in rolling boulders up hill for the Wolves but this Lakers team is plain not as good as last years Mavs. Y'all forget how important that little nightmare at PG was last year for the Mavs and he didn't follow Luka to LA.

The Wolves don’t have the perimeter defense to handle Luka/Bron/Reaves. They had a tough time with just Luka and Irving last year.

[Sealab2024]

No it isn't. Lakers are far better offensive team than Mavs were last year and Luka is in far better condition, because he didn't need to carry his team the whole RS like last year.

Lakers are also far more fundamentally flawed then the Mavs were last year. The lake show is a year away. They need an off-season to balance the roster after the Luka trade wiped out their interior defense. Luka certainly makes this an exercise in rolling boulders up hill for the Wolves but this Lakers team is plain not as good as last years Mavs. Y'all forget how important that little nightmare at PG was last year for the Mavs and he didn't follow Luka to LA.

The Wolves don’t have the perimeter defense to handle Luka/Bron/Reaves. They had a tough time with just Luka and Irving last year.

We shall see. Ant drew Kyrie last year out of necessity. My guess is this year we get Luka vs Ant and a lot of it.

[Bob8]

See a above. This ain't last year, it ain't the Mavericks and the Wolves get a week off.

No it isn't. Lakers are far better offensive team than Mavs were last year and Luka is in far better condition, because he didn't need to carry his team the whole RS like last year.

Lakers are also far more fundamentally flawed then the Mavs were last year. The lake show is a year away. They need an off-season to balance the roster after the Luka trade wiped out their interior defense. Luka certainly makes this an exercise in rolling boulders up hill for the Wolves but this Lakers team is plain not as good as last years Mavs. Y'all forget how important that little nightmare at PG was last year for the Mavs and he didn't follow Luka to LA.

LeBron is overall better player than Kyrie. AR is far better than Mavs 3rd option, which didn't even have 3rd option. Riu is far better than Mavs 4th option. Offensively is not even close.

Defensively, Lakers have better wing defenders than Mavs and have far worse bigs, but because how big their guards are, they are playing extremely effective small ball.

Mavs were big underdogs in every series, and they played without hca every series, but somehow didn't matter. Lakers had 3rd best home record in the league and are 36:16 in the conference behind only OKC, who is 39/13.

The biggest difference in playoffs is in pace. Only half court offense matters. And it's difficult to find better half court players than Luka and LeBron.

[Bob8]

Lakers are also far more fundamentally flawed then the Mavs were last year. The lake show is a year away. They need an off-season to balance the roster after the Luka trade wiped out their interior defense. Luka certainly makes this an exercise in rolling boulders up hill for the Wolves but this Lakers team is plain not as good as last years Mavs. Y'all forget how important that little nightmare at PG was last year for the Mavs and he didn't follow Luka to LA.

The Wolves don’t have the perimeter defense to handle Luka/Bron/Reaves. They had a tough time with just Luka and Irving last year.

We shall see. Ant drew Kyrie last year out of necessity. My guess is this year we get Luka vs Ant and a lot of it.

Will never happen, Wolves need Ant in offensive side. In the end it doesn't even matter, whose assignment is Luka, he will hunt he's matchups in p&r.

[Sealab2024]

No it isn't. Lakers are far better offensive team than Mavs were last year and Luka is in far better condition, because he didn't need to carry his team the whole RS like last year.

Lakers are also far more fundamentally flawed then the Mavs were last year. The lake show is a year away. They need an off-season to balance the roster after the Luka trade wiped out their interior defense. Luka certainly makes this an exercise in rolling boulders up hill for the Wolves but this Lakers team is plain not as good as last years Mavs. Y'all forget how important that little nightmare at PG was last year for the Mavs and he didn't follow Luka to LA.

LeBron is overall better player than Kyrie. AR is far better than Mavs 3rd option, which didn't even have 3rd option. Riu is far better than Mavs 4th option. Offensively is not even close.

Defensively, Lakers are better wing defenders than Mavs and have far worse bigs, but because how big their guards are, they are playing extremely effective small ball.

Mavs were big underdogs in every series, and they played without hca every series, but somehow didn't matter. Lakers had 3rd best home record in the league and are 36:16 in the conference behind only OKC, who is 39/13.

The biggest difference in playoffs is in pace. Only half court offense matters. And it's difficult to find better half court players than Luka and LeBron.

This where I doubt LA. Seems the plan is to slow it down, play small ball and get the Wolves into a slugfest. Problem with that is that it plays directly into Minnesotas hands. They have the talent to play small ball if necessary and nobody loves a good mudfight more than the Timberwolves.

This series will likely come down to adjustments which also plays into Minnys hands since Reddick is a rookie coach going into his first playoff series while Finch has been coaching in playoffs in just about every conceivable league for decades now.

[Sealab2024]

The Wolves don’t have the perimeter defense to handle Luka/Bron/Reaves. They had a tough time with just Luka and Irving last year.

We shall see. Ant drew Kyrie last year out of necessity. My guess is this year we get Luka vs Ant and a lot of it.

Will never happen, Wolves need Ant in offensive side. In the end it doesn't even matter, whose assignment is Luka, he will hunt he's matchups in p&r.

True enough but minus Gobert the Wolves become insanely switchable.

[Bob8]

We shall see. Ant drew Kyrie last year out of necessity. My guess is this year we get Luka vs Ant and a lot of it.

Will never happen, Wolves need Ant in offensive side. In the end it doesn't even matter, whose assignment is Luka, he will hunt he's matchups in p&r.

True enough but minus Gobert the Wolves become insanely switchable.

Nobody has ever stopped healthy Luka in playoffs, he's not by accident second best playoffs scorer in the history of Nba. I wouldn't even try, Wolves have to limit others.

[Sealab2024]

Will never happen, Wolves need Ant in offensive side. In the end it doesn't even matter, whose assignment is Luka, he will hunt he's matchups in p&r.

True enough but minus Gobert the Wolves become insanely switchable.

Nobody has ever stopped healthy Luka in playoffs, he's not by accident second best playoffs scorer in the history of Nba. I wouldn't even try, Wolves have to limit others.

Well he's never won a ring so eventually someone always stops Luka.

[Bob8]

Lakers are also far more fundamentally flawed then the Mavs were last year. The lake show is a year away. They need an off-season to balance the roster after the Luka trade wiped out their interior defense. Luka certainly makes this an exercise in rolling boulders up hill for the Wolves but this Lakers team is plain not as good as last years Mavs. Y'all forget how important that little nightmare at PG was last year for the Mavs and he didn't follow Luka to LA.

LeBron is overall better player than Kyrie. AR is far better than Mavs 3rd option, which didn't even have 3rd option. Riu is far better than Mavs 4th option. Offensively is not even close.

Defensively, Lakers are better wing defenders than Mavs and have far worse bigs, but because how big their guards are, they are playing extremely effective small ball.

Mavs were big underdogs in every series, and they played without hca every series, but somehow didn't matter. Lakers had 3rd best home record in the league and are 36:16 in the conference behind only OKC, who is 39/13.

The biggest difference in playoffs is in pace. Only half court offense matters. And it's difficult to find better half court players than Luka and LeBron.

This where I doubt LA. Seems the plan is to slow it down, play small ball and get the Wolves into a slugfest. Problem with that is that it plays directly into Minnesotas hands. They have the talent to play small ball if necessary and nobody loves a good mudfight more than the Timberwolves.

This series will likely come down to adjustments which also plays into Minnys hands since Reddick is a rookie coach going into his first playoff series while Finch has been coaching in playoffs in just about every conceivable league for decades now.

It's not about slowing it down, pace slows down in playoffs for everyone. Last year the fastest pace played by a team in playoffs was 96. That's the same as a team with 30th pace in last RS. Playoffs is about half court offense.

I doubt very much that Wolves are playing as good half court offense as Lakers with Luka and LeBron. Lakers have 2 of the best half court players in the history and Wolves have Conley?

JJ looks like a great coach and he doesn't need experience with Luka and LeBron on the court. Luka is basically a whole half court system. JJ will need to find solutions mostly in D and he was pretty good in RS with that. Kidd is not exactly great coach and Finch couldn't do anything.

[Bob8]

True enough but minus Gobert the Wolves become insanely switchable.

Nobody has ever stopped healthy Luka in playoffs, he's not by accident second best playoffs scorer in the history of Nba. I wouldn't even try, Wolves have to limit others.

Well he's never won a ring so eventually someone always stops Luka.

You need team first to win a ring. Did anyone stopped MJ? But he won his first ring, when he got Pippen. He was older than Luka is. I don't believe Lakers will win everything this year, but I believe they should win against Wolves. We will see what happens, there's no sure playoffs series in the West. Maybe OKC, if Warriors are not 8th.