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

[Froob]

You can challenge the out of bounds call, but if they see something else during that review, they will call it.

supposed to anyways. had a guy barrel over derrick white the other night and didn’t add it lmao

Are coaches able to expand on the rule and challenge a random moving screen or a trip/push away from the ball?

I don’t think so…but I also didn’t know they could add fouls til the other night

[KGdaBom]

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

NBA rigs it for Lakers. Wolves overcome it.

[Sharkboy242]

LeGOAT + a generational player and best third man in the league AR down 1-3 to the Wolves.

Meanwhile Jokic + scrubs took them to 7

[Sedale Threatt]

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.

That just proves to me that if the game was called fairly and consistently that the Lakers win anyway even if they don't make the shots they missed.

Like I said maybe they didn't ultimately decide the game because there's other things like rebounding that the Lakers could've done better but the refs surely did not help.

It's the playoffs. You're on the road. You might not get every call you deserve.

Suck. It. Up.

[Optms]

Respect to Lebron for going 48 minutes and still playing both sides.

Truly GOAT

GOAT’s don’t flame out in the first round when they have a top 3 player in the league trying to carry the team.

40 years old.

And still gave it all on both ends. ANT and the Wolves were just better. What other GOAT level players are not scrubs at this point? I'll wait

[ImmortalD24]

LeBron with those ninja fouls getting caught red handed with a review.. he fouls on nearly every steal attempt.

[MrPainfulTruth]

Why does lebron never take the last shot…. i thought he’s supposedly clutch? Shouldn’t LA win these close games with him and luka?

celebrating with some of chicago’s finest pizza

Nobody says he is clutch outside ESPN and a very small bubble of die hards. Its like a red line throughout his career that he disappears in important games. Of course you can pull out some hand selected numbers that "prove" something, preferrably all career stats that will always look impressive when you played the most games by far, but we saw him getting outplayed from 2011 until now. We know who made the three pointer vs. the Spurs we know who made "the shot" in 2016.

[Ruma85]

Vanderbilt and Vincent can't even give you 6 minutes in the 2nd half? What's JJs plan here? Even if they advance here, you wanna play Luka and James 44 minutes a game and expect any offensive output late in games?

we're never meant to advance, this team is not winning a championship, if we have pure luck on our side we get to wcf & that's it.
.

[jehosafats]

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.

That's a defect of former players-turned-coaches. They almost always run their players ragged at some point. Steph had that problem playing for Mark Jackson. They try to play vicariously through their players. And they assume, since you're suited up, you should be good to go 48mins every night.

[ChumboChappati]

JJ screwed up big time as well.

[zimpy27]

Wolves and Boston were the only team I predicted would beat the Lakers in a series.

Just bad luck Lakers got them in round 1.

I think Wolves lose to Warriors if Jimmy is healthy but I don't see any other team besides Lakers being able to beat OKC in the West regardless

[Doranku]

Respect to Lebron for going 48 minutes and still playing both sides.

Truly GOAT

GOAT’s don’t flame out in the first round when they have a top 3 player in the league trying to carry the team.

He's 40 years old averaging 26/10/6 on 51/39/82 splits lmao I don't even like LeBron but it's insane that people are calling him out for this series. There is no 40 year old in NBA history who could do what he's doing right now.

[uncleduck13]

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

Def a playoff riser

[ArksNetsSince99]

Lakers gotta find a way to settle Nico as GM of the pistons and trade Reaves for Cade Cunningham in the summer

[KGdaBom]

Lebron is undoubtedly amazing for his age, but that doesn't tip the scales in terms of greatest of all time. Pretty weird thing to say.

Sent from my Pixel 6a using RealGM mobile app

Wolves fan here. LeBron is without question the GOAT.

If you started watching basketball in 2005, probably.

Sorry. I go back to Kareem and Wilt. I love Pistol Pete by the way. Shame he died so young.

[Pistol_Pete]

Respect to Lebron for going 48 minutes and still playing both sides.

Truly GOAT

GOAT’s don’t flame out in the first round when they have a top 3 player in the league trying to carry the team.

40 years old.

And still gave it all on both ends. ANT and the Wolves were just better. What other GOAT level players are not scrubs at this point? I'll wait

Excuses is all I hear.

[jokeboy86]

The only people shocked are national talking heads who have a history of overrating great duos because they are big names. The West was always too damn deep for some of these Laker takes. I also think Lakers management and national heads keep acting like what LeBron is doing at his age is normal. The guy is still 40 years old and banking on a 40 year old player, even if he is still the greatest 40 year old to ever play, to help lead you to a title is a tall task.

[Michael Jackson]

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.

I'm also skeptical they will build a roster better than Luka already had that was tailor fit to all his strengths & weaknesses in Dallas. Idk how he's going to do it.

Doesn’t have many assets to do it with. They tanked any Knechtvalue, Hayes, ha maybe Bronny can fetch something. If they think they can make him into a player they can get Patrick Williams!

[TheWitcher]

Respect to Lebron for going 48 minutes and still playing both sides.

Truly GOAT

GOAT’s don’t flame out in the first round when they have a top 3 player in the league trying to carry the team.

40 years old.

And still gave it all on both ends. ANT and the Wolves were just better. What other GOAT level players are not scrubs at this point? I'll wait

GOATS don’t score 0 points in the 4th quarter and throw the game away on a crucial game in the playoffs.

[Ruma85]

Lakers gotta find a way to settle Nico as GM of the pistons and trade Reaves for Cade Cunningham in the summer