Game 3, 4/25: Lakers at Timberwolves, 8:30 pm

[TimberKat]

The Reid/Randle/McDaniels/Edwards/DiVincenzo lineup was a pretty good closing lineup against what LAL could put out there.

Lakers don't have another big to take advantage of Randle/Reid. DDV, Ant, JMcD all capable to stop Reaves. Questions remain on how to contain the two headed monster. Rat poison seems to worked well . The early double team on Luka helps too.

At some point, Gobert is going to wakeup and he was relatively effective guarding smaller guys. We also need to see a little more Clark/TSJ against Lakers small lineup. Let's hope LBJ don't shoot like game 3 anymore.

[Klomp]

Jaden 30-piece!

Didn't you want to include him in a trade for Durant?

No.

[minimus]

The Reid/Randle/McDaniels/Edwards/DiVincenzo lineup was a pretty good closing lineup against what LAL could put out there.

I feel like Randle and Reid’s roles are partially cannibalizing each other. Sure, it’s a luxury to have both — guys who can score 20+ points — and Randle has arguably been MIN’s most consistent scorer through these three games.

But I also believe that neither Reid nor Randle is a good enough rebounder or rim protector by big man standards, and neither is versatile enough defensively to fully function as a big wing.

Last game, Randle especially got exposed twice by Reaves: once hitting an open three, once assisting Vando for an easy two, both coming against MIN’s “boxes and elbows” semi-zone defense. Meanwhile, Reid still commits silly, unnecessary fouls. And against LeBron, neither Reid nor Randle has been a real factor defensively.

It makes me wonder if replacing one of Reid or Randle with either a big man like Horford or a versatile wing like Derrick White would create a much more balanced and playoff-ready unit.