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

[Green89]

People talking about the Wolves winning a title… lol. Jesus.

There’s getting carried away and then there’s just plain just being ridiculous.

It wouldn't 't surprise me if they made it to the Finals.

Even if they somehow remarkably made it that far, two of the 3 best teams are in the east. I just can’t see a title, those would be some really, really long odds.

Agreed, no title, but they could come out of the West. I like their roster and interested to see how far they can go.

[Revived]

Also, Kyrie was significantly better than the 2nd best player on this Lakers team.

Lebron at age 40 is still a better overall player than current Kyrie Irving.

[darkse1d]

Reading lot of reactions that Lakers need to be more physical, play with more intensity and toughness on D.

But they don't consider the fact that that will require way more energy meaning the offense will struggle. They just don't have enough depth and 3/5 of their starting 5 are traffic cones on defense.

That said I expect a much more competitive game but Lakers running out of gas trying to keep up with the wolves depth.

[HotRocks34]

In the game, Minnesota had 40 potential assists to LA's 37. But the difference in points from assists was MIN 79, LAL 42.

Comparing these numbers with regular season stat averages.

LAL typical game
46 PA (-9 in Game 1)
67 PFA (-25 in Game 1)

MIN typical game
44 PA (-4 in Game 1)
68 PFA (+11 in Game 1)

We'll see how things look in Game 2. Minnesota is a tough matchup but LA has to hope to narrow that gigantic PFA gap.

[thinktank]

I'm rooting against the lakers but also for Bob, which makes no sense really.

It's over, Bisme37 and Dirk are already counting my posts, I might be over the limit very soon.

Maybe just a little reminder, Luka has lost first game against OKC 95:117 in last playoffs.

That was the Mavs, a good team.

[Ethomasp31]

Also, Kyrie was significantly better than the 2nd best player on this Lakers team.

Lebron at age 40 is still a better overall player than current Kyrie Irving.

That's because he tore his ACL a month and a half ago. LBJ is not as good as Kyrie was last year. And that Mavs team was WAY better than the current LAL.

[Ethomasp31]

The Lakers are still going to win in 6. Absolutely no way McDaniels shoots like that again. Reid might catch fire, but whatever.

Anyone remember the 2020 playoffs? Lakers lost the first game in the first and second round, only the win the next four both times.

That's funny...you hads a 35 yo LBJ and an Anthony Davis who was in his prime. Also, no one remembers it...it was played in a bubble.

[Ethomasp31]

I think you’re coming to the wrong conclusion here.

Three point percentage for wide open three’s is always going to be much higher than for contested threes. Laker role players are forced to overplay, to cover for the defensive weaknesses of their stars. Even if LAL had the length and athleticism to do that and rush out and contest threes, the Lakers don’t have any deterrence left for MIN to attack the close outs and drive to the rim, or drive and kick out to another open three point shooter.

Yes, 51% shooting is tough to beat, but only part of this is about MIN having a lucky night, it’s also based on LAL making MIN’s three’s easier than league average.

I don't think I'm coming to the wrong conclusion, because the league average is 36% on wide open threes. I really was just stating a fact that shooting luck played a huge part in this. I didn't really say it was all that, but it was certainly the most important factor (and it will be the most important factor when they will shoot around 30% from three in some games).

They only shoot 30% once out of every four or five games.

The Wolves are one of the best three point shooting teams in the league. Conley, DDV and Ant are all about 40% from three. Naw and Naz are about 38%. The last 20 games Randle has been 40% from 3 also.

https://www.nba.com/stats/player/203944/traditional?Split=lastn&SeasonType=Regular+Season

[Ethomasp31]

Also on a quick note. Didn t the Timberwolves get a 2-0 lead on the road against the Nuggets last year. Only to lose the next three... This Wolves team is weird to say the least. Let s see how game 2 plays out before making a verdict

The Nuggets were defending champs. This LAL team is a long way from the Nuggets.

[bledredwine]

I'm rooting against the lakers but also for Bob, which makes no sense really.

It's over, Bisme37 and Dirk are already counting my posts, I might be over the limit very soon.

Maybe just a little reminder, Luka has lost first game against OKC 95:117 in last playoffs.

Don’t let them stop you Bob. Let your spirit shine!

[bledredwine]

I'm rooting against the lakers but also for Bob, which makes no sense really.

It's over, Bisme37 and Dirk are already counting my posts, I might be over the limit very soon.

Maybe just a little reminder, Luka has lost first game against OKC 95:117 in last playoffs.

That was the Mavs, a good team.

That’s a good point.

Bob??

[Ethomasp31]

hey, I said it was the hot take of hot takes

but honestly, I had a hunch they were really damn good before yesterday's game
ridicilous? we'll see about that now won't we

I mean I do think the Wolves were being underrated before the series but they had won 17/21 or something like that. I’m not shocked they won but definitely shocked at the margin. If Naz Reid is outplaying Reaves it’ll be a long series for the Lakers.

yup but also def something about their demeanor yesterday, hard to put a finger on it but i've been watching basketball for many decades, I trust my intuition. they're a championship caliber team

I think last season, they took down their great whale (the Nuggets) after being down 20, in Denver, in game 7 -I think they blew their gasket in that series might have gotten to their heads a little bit too so they didn't have enough in the tank for a smoking hot Luka and Dallas team and they were humbled by the Mavs. as Bob likes to point out, KAT isn't around to be soft and inefficient at the wrong moment anymore and ANT is a real one

I think this year they have everything they need to get over the hump. as good as OKC is, I do think they will have trouble with the sheer size of this Wolves team. with ANT flying around, Gobert, Randle, Mcdaniels and Reid, I just don't see how the OKC keep them away from the paint and the offensive glass. as good as their perimeter defense is (and it might be the best i've seen, from a whole team) - Minny can just pass over the top, Chet and Iharte gonna stop them for 7 games? idk about that

I'm a huge Wolves fan, but this team will not win the championship. i think they have a great chance to get to the WCF again, because they are on the opposite side of the draw from OKC. But they don't finish games well enough to win it all. i can even see them giving the Thunder a good series, but they will lose a close game or two they should have won before this playoff season is over. Hopefully it won't be in this round, but who knows. I said before this series started that i thought they would win in 5 games or maybe 6. This is not a great LAL team.

[TimberKat]

Then we agree, D was not the main reason for losing.

If you want to talk about how bad Lakers offense was and how great Twolves defense was go for it. The true is Lakers got problems at both end. Feel free to ignore defense and save all the energy to simply out score Twolves.

If Lakers can't score a lot more than 95, they should just forfeit games. The only team that scored less than 95 against them was Wizzards this season.

I'm not ignoring D, they should play better in D, but they won't win this series by totally limiting Wolves in O, we all agree they don't have personal for that. They will need to score a lot more than in game 1. If the main reason for scoring only 95 points is Wolves D than we can't stop talking about this series, Lakers have lost already.

Everyone is talking about Wolves having many wide open 3s, that's true. They had 27 wide open 3s, but Lakers had 21 wide open 3s too. The main difference was Wolves hitting 70% of those wide open 3s and Lakers 47% of them.

If it was vice versa, Lakers would have won. Basketball is not math, but that just shows, how things can change fairly quickly in next game, or not.

What is the point here?
Lakers need to play better offense? Yes they need to. Otherwise they won't win.
You people should stop talking LAL has bad defense? No, they do have bad defense.

[Jta444]

Luka is the true playoff lobcity creator; he needs an athletic big.

Luka entering the inside the 3pt line with a big threat is his most dangerous game. He is then lethal scoring, lobbing or now kicking for the open 3


Really wanting more leaks on what happened with the Williams trade

He got Jaxson Hayes for that, should be Hayes/Hachimura/DFS/Luka/Reaves to close. Perfect balance of scoring, defense and lob threat. But Reddick is stubborn, he’s young but has the mentality of an old coach.

[Emhoward]

I think at some point, Twolves will have to throw some early double team at Luka and it's still a question mark for me if Wolves can rotate well enough to be effective. Depending on Lakers adjustments, Twolves has more ceiling - a 40 pt game from Ant or double-double game from Gobert.

I'd would take a couple of adjustments to get to that point. Wolves wanted the Lakers to play 1-on-1, even if that meant Luka scoring a lot. We switched pick & rolls, even when it yielded a bad matchup (Gobert on Luka or Conley on Lebron), because we don't want to be put in rotation and get picked apart by Luka's passing. We love Lebron attacking Randle with the ball. We hate Lebron attacking Randle (or Ant last night) off the ball into space.

Lebron picking apart a 4-on-3 all game is scarier than Luka scoring 40, as long as Luka isn't also creating open 3s for teammates. AR getting to attack closeouts is scarier than AR attacking 1-on-1. We're playing a super vanilla scheme, trying to give the Lakers low-yield offense. What we're trying to avoid is the Lakers opening up a 3s and dunks machine.

Basically we'd rather let Luka score than send help and be put in rotation.

I don’t understand how this isn’t the defensive gameplan against all heliocentric, high usage ball handlers. That’s not to say it will work all the time, but this is the poison I would rather pick.

[simplyorange]

I don’t understand how this isn’t the defensive gameplan against all heliocentric, high usage ball handlers. That’s not to say it will work all the time, but this is the poison I would rather pick.

The Lakers can't even set a high pick for Luka.

People will say that Len is trash, but he is probably the best on the team at setting high picks so maybe him being out of the rotation is a big mistake.

High picks will get Luka into space where he is most dangerous & cause the Wolves defense to rotate disturbing their "genius" gameplan.

Also, why doesn't Lebron ever set a high pick for Luka???? Is that beneath him or something????

[Klomp]

Luka is the true playoff lobcity creator; he needs an athletic big.

Luka entering the inside the 3pt line with a big threat is his most dangerous game. He is then lethal scoring, lobbing or now kicking for the open 3


Really wanting more leaks on what happened with the Williams trade

A lot of people were saying that Luka is even better this year because he prefers playing 5 out. But instead of looking at what someone has more fun playing, look at what is better against the defense. What made Dallas so deadly was the combination of the stepback, the driving lane, the kick out passes, AND the lob threat. Minnesota has zero concerns about lob threats this series, especially if Hayes barely plays. Defenders don't have to worry about the roll man.

[simplyorange]

.....Reddick is stubborn, he’s young but has the mentality of an old coach.

Doesn't J.J. have to make a starting line-up change after the thrashing the Lakers took in game 1 though?????

If so, what????

I think he needs to do something drastic, but he probably feels that would be too risky & open him up to heavy criticism if it flops, so he will be too scared to do anything major & will maybe just do something minor instead like DFS replaces Hayes.

The problem for the Lakers is they can't beat the Wolves at their own game. A half-court & physical style the Wolves have too much of a size & strength advantage.

The Lakers have a big advantage over the Wolves as far as overall team skill & J.J. needs to find a way to exploit that.

I doubt it will happen, but he should probably move Reaves to the bench & start DFS alongside Luka at guard. He should start Len on Gobert & LeBron on Randle because at least size & strength in those matchups will be equal.

It would be really risky to start Knecht at SF, but if it could change the style of the game into to more of the Lakers favor then it would be more than worth it.

What the Wolves are deathly afraid of & every team that plays against Luka is deathly afraid of is Luka as playmaker. That is how the Mavs got to the Finals last season at all the pivotal moments it is how they won. When Luka is at the top of his game as playmaker, every opponent really has ZERO chance!!!

Sure, J.J. has said that is how the Lakers want to play, put the ball in Luka's hands & let him run the offense & they tried to do that a lot in the last couple months, but I don't think he has done ALL he could do as far as facilitating that game plan & now maybe the Lakers will pay for it dearly in the playoffs unless he acts quick.

[simplyorange]

Luka is the true playoff lobcity creator; he needs an athletic big.

Luka entering the inside the 3pt line with a big threat is his most dangerous game. He is then lethal scoring, lobbing or now kicking for the open 3


Really wanting more leaks on what happened with the Williams trade

A lot of people were saying that Luka is even better this year because he prefers playing 5 out. But instead of looking at what someone has more fun playing, look at what is better against the defense. What made Dallas so deadly was the combination of the stepback, the driving lane, the kick out passes, AND the lob threat. Minnesota has zero concerns about lob threats this series, especially if Hayes barely plays. Defenders don't have to worry about the roll man.

Knecht can be a lob threat & cutter in addition to 3-point shooter, all of which compliment Luka's game, but J.J. wants to play copy cat to the other winning teams in the league instead.

[Jta444]

.....Reddick is stubborn, he’s young but has the mentality of an old coach.

Doesn't J.J. have to make a starting line-up change after the thrashing the Lakers took in game 1 though?????

If so, what????

I think he needs to do something drastic, but he probably feels that would be too risky & open him up to heavy criticism if it flops, so he will be too scared to do anything major & will maybe just do something minor instead like DFS replaces Hayes.

The problem for the Lakers is they can't beat the Wolves at their own game. A half-court & physical style the Wolves have too much of a size & strength advantage.

The Lakers have a big advantage over the Wolves as far as overall team skill & J.J. needs to find a way to exploit that.

I doubt it will happen, but he should probably move Reaves to the bench & start DFS alongside Luka at guard. He should start Len on Gobert & LeBron on Randle because at least size & strength in those matchups will be equal.

It would be really risky to start Knecht at SF, but if it could change the style of the game into to more of the Lakers favor then it would be more than worth it.

What the Wolves are deathly afraid of & every team that plays against Luka is deathly afraid of is Luka as playmaker. That is how the Mavs got to the Finals last season at all the pivotal moments it is how they won. When Luka is at the top of his game as playmaker, every opponent really has ZERO chance!!!

Sure, J.J. has said that is how the Lakers want to play, put the ball in Luka's hands & let him run the offense & they tried to do that a lot in the last couple months, but I don't think he has done ALL he could do as far as facilitating that game plan & now maybe the Lakers will pay for it dearly in the playoffs unless he acts quick.

Yea Luka needs to create more. I think JJ needs to bring either Lebron or Reaves off the bench. So the 2nd unit has its own primary creator. And bring a defender on the starting lineup. Because those two are bad on defense.