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

[Johnny Firpo]

Minny shot 51% from 3 with 21 made 3's. Every team in the league would lose to that type of hot shooting.

Unless a team has a really poor shooting night, it always shoots as well as its opponents allow them. It is not some luck that they made 51% of their shots.

Nah, modern NBA sets create open shots. Obviously one team can decide to be ultra-agressive and run off three point shooters, but with today's ball handling skill, if you over commit, then they will just attack the paint on those closeouts very successfully. All this means that shooting luck will play a huge part in every game, and it is indeed very hard to beat teams in the playoffs that make 20 or more threes on 45+%. It's easy to say "you can defend it better", that's not really how it works in today's league.

[Asianiac_24]

Luka and Bron gets better as series go on. Lakers in 6

[TheGOATRises007]

I was called a casual on the PC board because I wouldn’t have traded Reid for Reaves

A good section over there are LeBron fanatics and nothing more.

[TheGOATRises007]

2001 NBA Finals, Game 1. Not worried at all.

This isn't the Kobe/Shaq Lakers and the Wolves would absolutely trounce that Philly team.

Not the same at all.

[Himothy Duncan]

2001 NBA Finals, Game 1. Not worried at all.

This isn't the Kobe/Shaq Lakers and the Wolves would absolutely trounce that Philly team.

Not the same at all.

It’s a wake up call that will be answered.

[TheGOATRises007]

2001 NBA Finals, Game 1. Not worried at all.

This isn't the Kobe/Shaq Lakers and the Wolves would absolutely trounce that Philly team.

Not the same at all.

It’s a wake up call that will be answered.

Maybe, but you picked an awful example.

[BruttoNostra]

Don't think you can defend when a team is this hot from 3

Yea, but the reason Wolves were hot from 3 is because those were mostly non-contested open 3s from the corner, something Lakers for some reason gave them. It's what I would expect from most of teams to shoot as open C&S - high volume, high %.
Respect for Wolves coaches for preparing the team for this Lakers zone D.
If Lakers don't adjust their D, they are in trouble.
I'm not a huge X&O guy, so if anyone has a good video on Lakers D breakdown, pls share with the room

[PlatinumState]

This ones over, stick a fork in the Lakers season. They might win 3 games (which seems like a reach right now) but theyre not getting out this series against a healthy Wolves roster

[Revived]

Don't think you can defend when a team is this hot from 3

Yea, but the reason Wolves were hot from 3 is because those were mostly non-contested open 3s from the corner, something Lakers for some reason gave them. It's what I would expect from most of teams to shoot as open C&S - high volume, high %.
Respect for Wolves coaches for preparing the team for this Lakers zone D.
If Lakers don''t adjust their D, they are in trouble.
I'm not a huge X&O guy, so if anyone has a good video on lakers D breakdown, pls share with the room

Redick is a big Xs and Os guy and watches ton of film so I’m sure he’ll make adjustments accordingly.

Wolves are a tougher team than I initially thought though. Respect to them. I thought they would fold against the Lakers star power.

[Mavrelous]

Lakers aren't wining games at 110 offensive rating, they need to be near 120, Wolves will drop after the hot shooting last night naturally, but the Lakers need to be much better.
This is why I hated this matchup for them, they csn outsmart all other western teams but the gap in the physical tools between the team leaves little room for mistakes, and if few things go wrong it's a blow out...

[BruttoNostra]

Read on Twitter

It's funny and all, but why Nico Harrison is brought up again and again in this thread?
His players right now are playing beer pong in Cancun with Suns and Wizards, while he himself probably can't show his face on Dallas streets.
Luka looks healthy, plays heavy minutes, including in B2B late in the season, and he def wasn't the reason Lakers lost.
Even if Lakers lose 0-4 (though personally I still believe they'll advance), it shouldn't framed as something positive about Nico's decision.

[TheGOATRises007]

Kind of amazing that so many Laker fans on reddit think the Lakers will complete a backdoor sweep.

Lakers can still win this series, but there's no shot the Wolves are losing 4 in a row.

Although I'm somewhat regretting my Lakers in 6 pick after game 1. Wolves match up physically well vs LeBron and their playoff rotation is really good. No weakness defensively and so much length + athleticism.

[TheWitcher]

That was such a satisfying first game. Good job Wolves!

[BruttoNostra]

Don't think you can defend when a team is this hot from 3

Yea, but the reason Wolves were hot from 3 is because those were mostly non-contested open 3s from the corner, something Lakers for some reason gave them. It's what I would expect from most of teams to shoot as open C&S - high volume, high %.
Respect for Wolves coaches for preparing the team for this Lakers zone D.
If Lakers don''t adjust their D, they are in trouble.
I'm not a huge X&O guy, so if anyone has a good video on lakers D breakdown, pls share with the room

Redick is a big Xs and Os guy and watches ton of film so I’m sure he’ll make adjustments accordingly.

Wolves are a tougher team than I initially thought though. Respect to them. I thought they would fold against the Lakers star power.

Agree on both.

Now, plenty was written in this thread about AR (nothing I don't agree with), but for me it's more on Rui. Man, he's such a low IQ player.
His "good" games is when he's left open on the corners and is fed by Luka (directly or through a hockey assist after Luka is doubled) - he makes like 5/8 and people claim he's an X-factor, when in reality there are dozens of min salary players in the league who would do the same when being left wide open.
He's a big body to throw in 1on1 defense, but his decision making on D is even worse than on O, with plenty of ball movement by the offense he gets lost, and Luka was visible frustrated with that through the game.
Finney-Smith might not have the same counting stats, but he is such a better player alongside Luka and Lebron. And he actually can pass the ball to the open teammate, unlike Rui.
Another one to steal minutes from Rui should be Knecht, and not because of his garbage points last night. Him and Gabe are probably the only 2 players on this Lakers roster to have any off-ball movement capabilities.

[Revived]

Read on Twitter

It's funny and all, but why Nico Harrison is brought up again and again in this thread?
His players right now are playing beer pong in Cancun with Suns and Wizards, while he himself probably can't show his face on Dallas streets.
Luka looks healthy, plays heavy minutes, including in B2B late in the season, and he def wasn't the reason Lakers lost.
Even if Lakers lose 0-4 (though personally I still believe they'll advance), it shouldn't framed as something positive about Nico's decision.

What does Suns and Wizards have to do with this? As for why he’s brought up in this thread, he gave the Lakers their best player.

And you realize it’s in jest right? Nobody is blaming Luka for the loss and even if Luka shoots 20% and averages 10 and 5 the rest of this series, nobody is gonna think Nico was correct in trading Luka. It’s all just in jest.

[MMyhre]

LBJ, Luka-AY, JayJay, Wolves in 4.

[Revived]

Yea, but the reason Wolves were hot from 3 is because those were mostly non-contested open 3s from the corner, something Lakers for some reason gave them. It's what I would expect from most of teams to shoot as open C&S - high volume, high %.
Respect for Wolves coaches for preparing the team for this Lakers zone D.
If Lakers don''t adjust their D, they are in trouble.
I'm not a huge X&O guy, so if anyone has a good video on lakers D breakdown, pls share with the room

Redick is a big Xs and Os guy and watches ton of film so I’m sure he’ll make adjustments accordingly.

Wolves are a tougher team than I initially thought though. Respect to them. I thought they would fold against the Lakers star power.

Agree on both.

Now, plenty was written in this thread about AR (nothing I don't agree with), but for me it's more on Rui. Man, he's such a low IQ player.
His "good" games is when he's left open on the corners and is fed by Luka (directly or through a hockey assist after Luka is doubled) - he makes like 5/8 and people claim he's an X-factor, when in reality there are dozens of min salary players in the league who would do the same when being left wide open.
He's a big body to throw in 1on1 defense, but his decision making on D is even worse than on O, with plenty of ball movement by the offense he gets lost, and Luka was visible frustrated with that through the game.
Finney-Smith might not have the same counting stats, but he is such a better player alongside Luka and Lebron. And he actually can pass the ball to the open teammate, unlike Rui.
Another one to steal minutes from Rui should be Knecht, and not because of his garbage points last night. Him and Gabe are probably the only 2 players on this Lakers roster to have any off-ball movement capabilities.

I thought there was some noise in Dallas about Luka not particularly getting along with DFS and that’s why he ok’d including DFS in the trade for Kyrie.

[JN61]

Expected outcome but not as expected as Lebron getting double digit free throws in the game 2.

[Revived]

Minny shot 51% from 3 with 21 made 3's. Every team in the league would lose to that type of hot shooting.

Unless a team has a really poor shooting night, it always shoots as well as its opponents allow them. It is not some luck that they made 51% of their shots.

Nah, modern NBA sets create open shots. Obviously one team can decide to be ultra-agressive and run off three point shooters, but with today's ball handling skill, if you over commit, then they will just attack the paint on those closeouts very successfully. All this means that shooting luck will play a huge part in every game, and it is indeed very hard to beat teams in the playoffs that make 20 or more threes on 45+%. It's easy to say "you can defend it better", that's not really how it works in today's league.

It does play a part in it though. Look at how many uncontested 3s the Lakers took and look at how many uncontested 3s the Wolves took.

And this is despite the Lakers having 2 of the best open 3pt attempts generators in the history of basketball in Luka and LeBron.

[BruttoNostra]

Read on Twitter

It's funny and all, but why Nico Harrison is brought up again and again in this thread?
His players right now are playing beer pong in Cancun with Suns and Wizards, while he himself probably can't show his face on Dallas streets.
Luka looks healthy, plays heavy minutes, including in B2B late in the season, and he def wasn't the reason Lakers lost.
Even if Lakers lose 0-4 (though personally I still believe they'll advance), it shouldn't framed as something positive about Nico's decision.

What does Suns and Wizards have to do with this? As for why he’s brought up in this thread, he gave the Lakers their best player.

And you realize it’s in jest right? Nobody is blaming Luka for the loss and even if Luka shoots 20% and averages 10 and 5 the rest of this series, nobody is gonna think Nico was correct in trading Luka. It’s all just in jest.

Sure, but number of posts here suggest he was kind of right, although Lakers loss has nothing to do with Luka being injury-prone or bad influence or whatever else crap he told/shared as "anonymous sources" about Luka.
And Suns and Wizards are in the same place as Mavs - lottery and Cancun. The jury on Mavs in general and Nico and particular should be based on what Mavs did, not what the Lakers do in the playoffs.