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

[scrabbarista]

Was it the Jazz who tried guarding prime Harden with their hands behind their back. Just daring the refs to call their bullsh#% fouls while they didn't use their arms.

They tried a series guarding him from behind as well.

Yeah I remember that, but I wasn't sure if they were the ones that did the hands behind the back defense as well.

I remember Rubio playing Harden from behind though.. wild.

And people used to double him at half court. One of the most ridiculous offensive forces in basketball history, if not the most.

[life_saver]

Donte was a pretty good get from Wolves in the KAT trade. His contract is amazing value

[durden_tyler]

Reaves and LeBron aren’t gonna have 8 pts combined in the next half lol

They do need to pick things up on defense though if get want to win this.

I think they will. This gives me vibes from the earlier Pistons/Knicks game.

Knicks is way better than the immature Pistons. The Lakers are on par with the battle-tested Wolves.

This might be a close finish but Minnesota has the veterans to pull this off.


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[HotRocks34]

Total disgrace for the Lakers in the second quarter. Felt like the worst of the Dallas days when Luka had no help.

Redick could have made better adjustments but the roster is limited. I'm letting Hayes go in the summer. His mind isn't good enough IMO to be a starter or backup on a contender.

LA has to get bigger in the summer.

Oh there are so many things that need to be adressed with this roster. Only media and extreme homers thought this team was winning it all. Most fans saw the holes in this team.

Yep.

Reaves isn't ready for this level yet. But this is a good training ground for him.

Bron can no longer athleticly overpower people. He's good against most teams but put him against BOS or MIN and the decline is clear.

LA can still do this but JJ has to adjust quickly to what Minny is having success with.

But, truly, some of the fixes won't come until the summer.

[thinktank]

The Wolves are getting cooked by the refs here.

Are you surprised?

I said where can I bet on the Lakers being in the bonus first?

That will continue to happen each half unless the series isn’t in doubt.

[TimberKat]

I thought Reaves was part of an all time great big 3?

Lol

He is a shifty 3 level scorer. But his advantage is big size for a guard, which is no advantage vs wolves (besides Conley). And he is too slow to generate iso buckets on wolves wing defenders ala what Kyrie did last year. So its not the most ideal match up for Reaves.


But he will get with his shooting/scoring eventually.


His main base level use will be his extra ball handler playmaking and foul baiting lol

I said him and JMcD are even and now you see why.

[Tracymcgoaty]

Total disgrace for the Lakers in the second quarter. Felt like the worst of the Dallas days when Luka had no help.

Redick could have made better adjustments but the roster is limited. I'm letting Hayes go in the summer. His mind isn't good enough IMO to be a starter or backup on a contender.

LA has to get bigger in the summer.

Oh there are so many things that need to be adressed with this roster. Only media and extreme homers thought this team was winning it all. Most fans saw the holes in this team.

Yeah I don't get all the "omg they are gonna win the chip!" talk. They didn't retool around Luka, they just replaced AD/MadMax with him. This roster isn't built for him.

Some of the guys fit, but Luka NEEDS a rim-running C who can erase his mistakes on defense. They almost made the move for one..

I agree. The move was for the future. This season was supposed to be a wash really but even i was shocked we got 3rd seed. But i dont think this roster is going very far.

Thats why i said Rob will get cred if he builds a contending team around Luka. Im not giving him cred for Nico being an idiot. I want to see what happens in the offseason.

[CIN-C-STAR]

Was it the Jazz who tried guarding prime Harden with their hands behind their back. Just daring the refs to call their bullsh#% fouls while they didn't use their arms.

They tried a series guarding him from behind as well.

Yeah I remember that, but I wasn't sure if they were the ones that did the hands behind the back defense as well.

I remember Rubio playing Harden from behind though.. wild.

It was the Spurs that did the hands behind their back lol
Jazz did guard from behind

[Mavrelous]

I know RGM is whining about officiating, but it was fine until now, Reaves isn't getting his touch fouls from RS, and he is shook by it, he needs to snap out of it, this series will be a shoot out, not a mud fight and Lakers have no chance if he's not hitting.

[Upperclass]

Matchup is going as expected, I'm not sure why people are suprprised, it's just that Reaves and LeBron aren't hitting anything and Wolves are 50% from 3, when Luka was hitting everything, it was Lakers lead, once others had to pitch in ot flipped.
The series will be won on the margins, and the Wolves are dominating there.

Wolves literally have no chance in ther series other than hitting every 3 they take.. and not because the Lakers are better on the floor

[HotRocks34]

LA has zero full sized reliable bigs on its roster. Huge problem.

[Folklore]

So im assuming Gobert has been played off the court and LA has already won the first 3 games in the first half. Isn't that what Lakers fans told us was gonna happen?

Refs took him out. And I knew they were going to milk that Lebron block for all its worth lol

[Upperclass]

I know RGM is whining about officiating, but it was fine until now, Reaves isn't getting his touch fouls from RS, and he is shook by it, he needs to snap out of it, this series will be a shoot out, not a mud fight and Lakers have no chance if he's not hitting.

Lakers first foul of the game was with 4min remaining in the first half. Do with that what you will.

[Mk0]

They tried a series guarding him from behind as well.

Yeah I remember that, but I wasn't sure if they were the ones that did the hands behind the back defense as well.

I remember Rubio playing Harden from behind though.. wild.

And people used to double him at half court. One of the most ridiculous offensive forces in basketball history, if not the most.

I mean until the playoffs when the whistles get swallowed and he can't flop his way to 12 FTAs

The guy was a FORCE, but him hacking the game kills me. He is the godfather of all foul merchants.

*And I am not saying it wouldn't have happened without him, but he just showcased it so much that everyone had to take note.. and now we got guys like Trae Young.

[jehosafats]

LA has zero full sized reliable bigs on its roster. Huge problem.

Alex Len fixing to save the day

[Sealab2024]

Matchup is going as expected, I'm not sure why people are suprprised, it's just that Reaves and LeBron aren't hitting anything and Wolves are 50% from 3, when Luka was hitting everything, it was Lakers lead, once others had to pitch in ot flipped.
The series will be won on the margins, and the Wolves are dominating there.

Wolves literally have no chance in ther series other than hitting every 3 they take.. and not because the Lakers are better on the floor

[Mk0]

Donte was a pretty good get from Wolves in the KAT trade. His contract is amazing value

At the time I said he was the guy they actually traded for. Randle was just the contract to get them off the monster tax with KAT's contract on the books.

[Revived]

LA has zero full sized reliable bigs on its roster. Huge problem.

Alex Len fixing to save the day

Wonder if they regret rescinding the Mark Williams trade…he’s looked plenty healthy since then.

[Wargreymon]

What the Shai is a dinosaur in a movie?

[Revived]

Donte was a pretty good get from Wolves in the KAT trade. His contract is amazing value

Smart player too