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

[Revived]

The Wolves shot 50% from 3 in game 1 yesterday and of course, won. Last season the only game the Wolves managed to win against Luka and his team in the playoffs was the game in which the Wolves shot 40%+ from 3.

Based off that strictly, if the Wolves want to win this series against Luka, they will need to have more 40%+ shooting games from 3. Otherwise Luka and his team will beat the Wolves in 5 once again.

[CloudWalker]

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.

Not true at all, quite the opposite. Luka and DFS have been very good friends since the Dallas days, and DFS has always been one of the teammates Luka has enjoyed playing the most with.

[BruttoNostra]

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.

Not gonna argue it's not true (or it was back a couple of years ago), but before the trade deadline there were reports Luka is pushing for bringing DFS back to Dallas and in all the post-trade chatter the first DFS trade was mentioned in the same breath as Mavs getting rid of other Luka guys, like that athletic coach and other guys.
I guess more hard-core Mavs fans can help us here.
Per some googling:
https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/mavericks/2023/02/05/who-did-the-dallas-mavericks-trade-to-land-kyrie-irving/

His appreciative demeanor, penchant for trash talk and playful sense of humor made him one of Doncic’s favorite teammates and endeared him to Mavericks fans throughout his six-plus seasons.

https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/mavericks/2025/02/04/luka-doncic-dorian-finney-smith-reunion-los-angeles-lakers-dallas-mavericks-maxi-kleber-supermax/

Luka Doncic and Dorian Finney-Smith long had hoped to be teammates again, as they were in Dallas from 2018 to 2023, when Finney-Smith was dealt to Brooklyn in the Kyrie Irving blockbuster.

Finney-Smith frequently was the subject of trade rumors and Doncic publicly lobbied for his return to Dallas, but on Dec. 29 of this season he was dealt to the Lakers.

On Tuesday night in the Intuit Dome’s visiting locker room, as he suited up to face the Clippers, Finney-Smith was in disbelief of the circumstances that have reunited him with Doncic.

“We thought it might be there,” Finney-Smith said, referring to Dallas. “But I guess it’s L.A. Luka spoke it into existence.”

[Shaka_Zulu]

Where is that guy that replayed on every comment for first 50 pages?

[KGDirkTD_Fan]

Is it me or does Luka not play with that alpha swagger like he usually does when we was on the Mavs? I know the team isnt built around him but its weird not seeing him dominate every possession.

That's the thing that's off with me. Even without the lob threats and stuff from Dallas Doncic's still rattled from the trade. He has not performed on the SGA/Jokic level since last year that the Lakers were expecting once acquiring him. I don't think "fit the **** out" is a one season thing. It's one thing to be a best in the league player and choose where you want to go(what Garnett/Durant/James did) it's another thing when you were forced away. They could win the series, but I don't see the team fulfilling championship or bust mentality within LeBron James timeline.

I haven't watched a ton of Lakers game since he was acquired, he puts up numbers but this just feels off. There isn't the **** talking, less raw emotion, I think even he could complain at the refs more than he is, idk how to explain it other than he looks fragile. It's been only 2 months I get it, but it's really hard to see him like this.

[pepe1991]

Where is that guy that replayed on every comment for first 50 pages?

Lakers can still advance but it is crazy how cocky some takes before game 1 were.

Lakers can't defend perimeter nor have anybody to protect rim.

[Archx]

I see Luka brought Mavs game 1 tradition with him to the LA. (Lose big but win the series). Not sure it was smart from ANT to taunt him already.

[MoneyTalks41890]

Looks like the lack of depth and quality outside the top 3 is hurting the Lakers.

Wolves in 5.

[Dadouv47]

The Wolves shot 50% from 3 in game 1 yesterday and of course, won. Last season the only game the Wolves managed to win against Luka and his team in the playoffs was the game in which the Wolves shot 40%+ from 3.

Based off that strictly, if the Wolves want to win this series against Luka, they will need to have more 40%+ shooting games from 3. Otherwise Luka and his team will beat the Wolves in 5 once again.

Dallas had a top 2 or 3 defense after adding PJ and Gafford so even if I like the Lakers defense and chances to beat the Wolves, that's a different team the wolves are playing now.

[Mavrelous]

People who continue to compare this matchup to Mavs/Wolves because of Luka will continue to be surprised, this is much closer to Nhggets and Suns than Mavs.
Mavs were confident in their rim protection and had the athletes to close out, the only gamr they didn't defend well was the game Lively missed.
Lakers were in clear panic each time ANT ran a P&R from the 2nd Q onwards.

[firedavidkahn]

I still have PTSD from Luka cooking our ass in the play offs last year. Looks like that is going to continue.

Can't believe Luka went off and we still blew out the Lakers. What a great win.

We're winning this series

[jasonxxx102]

Seeing the Lakers get stomped is so refreshing.

[Dacost]

Good job Wolves as a Lakers hater I'm loving it so far.

[MoneyTalks41890]

People who continue to compare this matchup to Mavs/Wolves because of Luka will continue to be surprised, this is much closer to Nhggets and Suns than Mavs.
Mavs were confident in their rim protection and had the athletes to close out, the only gamr they didn't defend well was the game Lively missed.
Lakers were in clear panic each time ANT ran a P&R from the 2nd Q onwards.

Yeah the Mavs built a roster to complement Luka. The Lakers dropped Luka into a situation with two very talented running mates and little else.

[KrAzY3]

The Wolves shot 50% from 3 in game 1 yesterday and of course, won. Last season the only game the Wolves managed to win against Luka and his team in the playoffs was the game in which the Wolves shot 40%+ from 3.

Based off that strictly, if the Wolves want to win this series against Luka, they will need to have more 40%+ shooting games from 3. Otherwise Luka and his team will beat the Wolves in 5 once again.

That math does not check out at all though. Taking a step back, we're comparing Luka on two different teams, and a different makeup of the Timberwolves, but even then your premise is off.

The Lakers shot 36.6 from 3 last game. If the Timberwolves shot 36.6 they would have made 15 threes. They made 21. That's 18 point difference. That means the Wolves, even shooting 36.6 win 99-95 on the road against the Lakers. They didn't win because of the exceptional three point shooting.

So using your overly simplistic approach, if the Timberwolves shoot 35% (they average 37.7%) from three they sweep...

[cgf]

Lakers kept game 1 closer than I thought they would.

Gentleman’s sweep is still on

[Ethomasp31]

Never change RealGM, reading the posts here you’d think the Wolves have a 3-0 series lead already.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Did you watch the game? Two of their BIG THREE play defense like cones and the other one is 40 years old. The Wolves are going to make LBJ and Luka work for 94 feet and after 3 and a half quarters they are already frustrated. The Wolves have so many ways to beat you besides the obvious one. Last night it was Naz and JMD, Tuesday it might be DDV and Rudy or Randle. This is the series that ANT wanted...no one seems to understand that and what it means. Did you see the focus on ANT's face last night? He cut his complaining to the refs down by about 90% last night...and that was despite the Lakers picking up their first foul in the game until there was 4 minutes left in the second quarter. Even cones foul guys.

[Bob8]

Where is that guy that replayed on every comment for first 50 pages?

Bob was banned for posting too much. No interest whatsoever to be bullied by mods. Enjoy.

[MMyhre]

Going off the comments in the first two pages I'm going to guess most of the posters haven't even seen the Wolves play lol

They are 2nd in the western conference in net rating and had a higher net rating than the Lakers post all star break. They are top 10 in offensive and defensive rating for the season, the only other team besides the top tier contenders in Thunder, Cavs, and Celts. Their main issue has been consistency game to game.

I think this series is close and is going to come down to whether they have a better gameplan for Luka than they did last year. The Laker's need their defense to hold up over the 7 game series but Luka and Lebron vs Ant and Randle in 4th quarter clutch execution is a huge advantage to the Lakers.

Doesnt matter how good minny is, playoffs are all about matchups. The way to beat a Luka team in the playoffs is to make him work on the other end of the floor. Minnesota is probably the worst team in the West for this. Outside of Ant they have nobody who will make Luka pay for switching onto them, and even with Ant they can easily provide help for Luka and he doesnt have the playmaking and Minny doesn't have the shooting to make them pay. Luka owns Gobert going back to his Utah days. Lebron not being healthy is Minny's only shot but even then their chances are slim.

lAKErZ In fOUr

[thinktank]

FYI Gobert played 25 minutes and was +14.

Didn’t get played off the floor.

Hayes played 8.

Got played off the floor.

Boomerang to forehead logic by Laker fans.