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

[Badlands]

As weak as the Lakers bench is, playing all the starters the entire second half (which had never been done before in NBA playoff history) was a huge mistake. They've been terrible in the 4th all series (averaging 17 points per game) and some of it was due to tired legs. That was exacerbated here, especially with Luka and LeBron playing 46 minutes each.

[mademan]

Rob Pelinka going to have a long off-season to figure something out. I get this a wash season but he is really going have to prove he can build a team around the generational talent that he has. Can't have 6 dudes playing the whole game, it's a joke.

Takes years to build a roster. With Lebron on the books and Reaves getting a raise in a season and their lack of 1st round picks/young talent....this year might honestly be their best chance in the Lebron era, and its gonna take a couple years to build back after he retires.

[levon]

I feel like if a challenge call happens during the other team's timeout, they shouldn't be charged for a timeout. Seems like a bad wrinkle of the rule.

That said, great challenge for Coach Finch!

I'm gonna be honest I had no idea why Ant insisted on a review. In real time, the play looked clean. But the bird's eye view confirmed that it was a foul after all. Ant was right.

To be fair, Ant insists on a review every play.

[NyKnicks1714]

Doesn't matter because the Lakers got a great look regardless, but It's kind of ridiculous that the Lakers call a timeout to advance the ball and draw up a play when the refs declare it their ball, but then the time out stands AFTER the call is overturned. They're not going to call a time out if that foul is called originally.

Wait, did they really lose their TO because of that? That's an insane rule. The NFL gives teams their TO back id replay determines they wouldn't have needed to use it.

Yes. Honestly it's like the NBA planned out the whole challenge system in a half hour Teams meeting at 4:30 on a Friday.

[Pistol_Pete]

LOL

Only thing I’m sad about is Joker not getting the chance to own LA yet again. Lakers daddy sad.

Nuggets won't even get past the Clippers. Joke is on you.

You may be quite right But LA losing in the 1st round is such poetic justice

[thelead]

Can we now stop with the whole Ant doesn't step up in the playoffs myth?

Laughable narrative anyway as he was 22 or younger in prior postseasons.

[Marvin Martian]

Ant knocking out KD, Booker, Jokic, Bron, and Luka in B2b playoffs would be CRAZY

He is having a hell of a playoff career already

[Michael Jackson]

I feel like if a challenge call happens during the other team's timeout, they shouldn't be charged for a timeout. Seems like a bad wrinkle of the rule.

That said, great challenge for Coach Finch!

I'm gonna be honest I had no idea why Ant insisted on a review. In real time, the play looked clean. But the bird's eye view confirmed that it was a foul after all. Ant was right.

Same here. Looked clean from the original angle.

[KyRo23]

If Jokic was there instead of Lebron Lakers would win. Wasting Luka’s prime

I mean this is kind of obvious right? A 3pt game and you wanna add in the best player in the world for the win? Of course

No one is calling LeBron the best player in the league or even top 5

[KGDirkTD_Fan]

I feel like if a challenge call happens during the other team's timeout, they shouldn't be charged for a timeout. Seems like a bad wrinkle of the rule.

That said, great challenge for Coach Finch!

I'm gonna be honest I had no idea why Ant insisted on a review. In real time, the play looked clean. But the bird's eye view confirmed that it was a foul after all. Ant was right.

i can't tell 100% but it does look like he would have felt his wrist getting slapped and they took a chance on that

[JXL]

OKC, UFC, KFC... Lakers are flopping in the 1st round

[Domejandro]

I feel like if a challenge call happens during the other team's timeout, they shouldn't be charged for a timeout. Seems like a bad wrinkle of the rule.

That said, great challenge for Coach Finch!

I'm gonna be honest I had no idea why Ant insisted on a review. In real time, the play looked clean. But the bird's eye view confirmed that it was a foul after all. Ant was right.

To be fair, it could have been a clean strip, and Anthony Edwards would have immediately called for a review. He's pretty good at crying wolf.

[MrPainfulTruth]

If Jokic was there instead of Lebron Lakers would win. Wasting Luka’s prime

Joker certainly wouldnt have completely disappeared in the fourth but its not the first time we saw this from James.

To be fair, its crazy how many minutes he and Luka had to play, but its part of his superteam approach. Cant have a top 5 player next to you and expect premium starters and role players on top of that. I'll still say that even without Luka, LBJ has more help on that Lakers roster than Joker has. I'd swap Murray for Reaves and MPJ for DFS or Hachimura without second thought.

[ArksNetsSince99]

Again, hands are part of the ball. That wouldn’t have been a foul. He got him on his wrist.

Yeah right , and I’ve been born with balls instead my fingers

No, you were born with balls instead of a Prefrontal cortex.

MODS ban worthy comment

[Tomhomes33]

Luka did not take any of Laker’s final 2 shots ..wow..
I know he was gassed but should take the shot instead (LBJ 3pt attempt)

[mademan]

Lakers have choked every 4th quarter. They just had a big enough lead to survive game 2

It doesn't help when the coach doesn't rest his two best players for even a minute in the second half. Luka and Lebron were dead tired.

They both played 46 minutes.

Crazy.

ANT and Randle went 45 and 44. ANT was still making plays down the stretch while Luka and Lebron were dead

[VFX]

LeBron can’t even win with Luka.

I think luka doesn’t want to play 41 year old LeBron next season. He wants to go to a young team that fits his timeline.

Dude, he's in LA. In a year or two they will land a supertstar centering around Finney-Smith.

Palinka (the league) will trade Hachimura for Zion Williamson randomly because Lakers need more help.

[azcatz11]

Luka needs to get in shape this off season. 3x a day pure cardio. No more booze, no smoking. He can get fat in 10 years when he retires.

[Individual]

I don’t wanna hear from the mouth breathing “NBA rigs it for Lakers crowd” again

You realise the Wolves had to challenge that call to get it right?

Yet they didn't call that clear trip on Luka. Interesting

[Sedale Threatt]

Usually I'm not one to blame the refs for changing an outcome but the Lakers got hosed in the 2nd half. All the hand checking and bodying by the Wolves really changed it for the Lakers.

The Lakers could've rebounded a lot better and that may have been ultimate reason why they lost but the Refs did them no favors.

Eh, suck it up. It's the playoffs. We had plenty of opportunities to make late shots and/or get stops and we didn't do it. Could be up 3-1 instead of down 3-1 but it's make/miss and we mostly missed.

I'm not even a Lakers fan and I felt bad for how bad they got hosed in the 2nd half. Yeah it's the playoffs, let the teams decide the game by calling the game the same the whole game. You can't reward LeBron ft's in the 1st half getting bodied by Wolves defenders and then in the 2nd half let Naz Reid and McDaniels hand check Luka left and right on the perimeter.

It's pathetic.

Well, I am a Lakers fan and I'm way more pissed at our missed opportunities -- how many opens 3s did we brick? how many defensive assignments did Luka blow? etc etc -- than anything the officials did or didn't call.

Whining about officiating when you had the game in the palm of your hand is soft.