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

[thinktank]

Where my guy Bob8 at?

Luka got absolutely cooked on D again.

If defense wasn’t a part of the game it would be called Offenseball.

And he accused me of disappearing after two games last year. Looks like he got a lot of thinking to do to get the Lakers right again and win this series in 5. Maybe Luka will go for 100pts the next game.

To be fair, blaming this game on Doncic's defense would be idiotic to say the least. Feels more like trolling so obviously he'll respond to these type of posts. Just basically baiting him to go for another 50 post thread

Dude he gave up like 80 points.

Doncic was on roller skates the whole game.

[80HD]

At the end of the day, the Lakers aren't any good. The Wolves aren't necessarily any good either. Wolves have potential, but, won't do anything this year.

LAL hype going into the series and the playoffs in general was pretty ridiculous.

I get it. Nobody watches the Wolves, so they repeat stuff they read online or what they hear from “experts”.

NOBODY picked the Wolves to beat the Suns last years. Even after sweeping the Suns, NOBODY had the Wolves beating the defending champs (Nuggets).

This year, same thing…”Antman, Ironman, Spider-Man - Lakers in 5”.

This Wolves team is finally healthy (and good). They are DEEP. Believe it.

If they somehow advance, and meet OKC in the WCF it will be a battle, but OKC is just too damn good and I agree - the Wolves “won’t do anything this year.” as nobody remembers teams that make it to the WCF.

If not for OKC, this Wolves team has a real chance to make their first trip to the Finals.

[ratul]

Lakers in nine.

[CobraCommander]

Lebron is undoubtedly amazing for his age, but that doesn't tip the scales in terms of greatest of all time. Pretty weird thing to say.

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Wolves fan here. LeBron is without question the GOAT.

Lebron hate crew will be running wild after this loss. No point in talking sense.

Look I think Mj the goat but come on - this dude was pretty much the best player on the court for most of the game and Luka and Ant and Randal were out there -

People had burst - but LBJ was playing aggressive - thing in the clutch happen - but man this man played like a monster for 2 games in a row -

Sometime the other team wins more than you lose

[CobraCommander]

jj gonna have to answer for the 2nd half rotation or lack thereof

What rotation? The Earth rotated more than the Lakers in this second half

He texted Thibs and Thibs was like “wtf is a bench”

No question mark intentially

Rui got 23 lbj 27 with nearly a triple double and some blocks plus Luka had 38 -

Yall gotta just tip the hat fellas

Naz is like….

[KO7]

Is Knecht really that unplayable?

[Archx]

And he accused me of disappearing after two games last year. Looks like he got a lot of thinking to do to get the Lakers right again and win this series in 5. Maybe Luka will go for 100pts the next game.

To be fair, blaming this game on Doncic's defense would be idiotic to say the least. Feels more like trolling so obviously he'll respond to these type of posts. Just basically baiting him to go for another 50 post thread

Dude he gave up like 80 points.

Doncic was on roller skates the whole game.

ANT was cooking DFS and Rui entire game, you only saw Luka? Come on now... Lebron/Luka combo at some point had assisted/scored on 65 out of 69 total points for Lakers.
JJ played same unit for entire 2nd half. You don't see problems in those small details? I'm not saying Luka was a lock down defender but still.. that's just a silly statement used in a hindsight because it's "fashionable" to talk about. Luka was still only -3 for the game, if his defense was so bad, Wolves should have won by 20.

But just to give you actual stats.

Wolves attempted 25 FG's on Doncic in a direct matchup, they scored on only 10 of them, that's 40% shooting. Luka, Rui and Gobert also contested the most shots out of both teams.

Was his defense good? Maybe it was just average at best.... but was it the reason why the lost, 100% no.

[Liam_Gallagher]

At the end of the day, the Lakers aren't any good. The Wolves aren't necessarily any good either. Wolves have potential, but, won't do anything this year.

LAL hype going into the series and the playoffs in general was pretty ridiculous.

People forget that the 3-7 seeds basically had the same records. The Lakers were one loss away from the play-in. Their lack of depth is beyond concerning - playing hero ball with Luka all day is cute in the regular season but it’s been exposed quick. Laker fans saw this coming - they need a full offseason to field a more balanced roster.

[MasterIchiro]

Edwards is playing determined basketball. He has that same look of determination in his eyes that MJ had in the playoffs.

I think the Lakers are in trouble.

Lol another next Jordan.

It's not going to happen in our lifetimes.

Not comparing skill - comparing approach to the game.

I don't see Ant carrying this Wolves roster to any championships like MJ did with his 6 times, but Edwards will make his team a tough out every season.

He's not the best player in the game yet, but he's trending there. And I do love his fierce competitive spirit.

[TimberKat]

To be fair, blaming this game on Doncic's defense would be idiotic to say the least. Feels more like trolling so obviously he'll respond to these type of posts. Just basically baiting him to go for another 50 post thread

Dude he gave up like 80 points.

Doncic was on roller skates the whole game.

ANT was cooking DFS and Rui entire game, you only saw Luka? Come on now... Lebron/Luka combo at some point had assisted/scored on 65 out of 69 total points for Lakers.
JJ played same unit for entire 2nd half. You don't see problems in those small details? I'm not saying Luka was a lock down defender but still.. that's just a silly statement used in a hindsight because it's "fashionable" to talk about. Luka was still only -3 for the game, if his defense was so bad, Wolves should have won by 20.

But just to give you actual stats.

Wolves attempted 25 FG's on Doncic in a direct matchup, they scored on only 10 of them, that's 40% shooting. Luka, Rui and Gobert also contested the most shots out of both teams.

Was his defense good? Maybe it was just average at best.... but was it the reason why the lost, 100% no.

Well somebody took the bait.

[guest81]

How would you rank the playoff coaching by JJ Redick?

This is one of the worst coaching performances I can remember. This combined with game 1 were particularly bad.


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What levers does he have to pull? Lakers are 3 deep

[KingFox]

I’m still stunned LeBron chose to shoot that Curry-like 3 when they were up two points at 113-111. Just AWFUL

He’s been doing that for about 6 years. He always jacks up a knockout 3 to put the game away, and it never goes in.

He’s way too smart of a player for that. If he’d just attacked the rim, good things would have transpired and i think they would have taken some kind of control.

[Archx]

Dude he gave up like 80 points.

Doncic was on roller skates the whole game.

ANT was cooking DFS and Rui entire game, you only saw Luka? Come on now... Lebron/Luka combo at some point had assisted/scored on 65 out of 69 total points for Lakers.
JJ played same unit for entire 2nd half. You don't see problems in those small details? I'm not saying Luka was a lock down defender but still.. that's just a silly statement used in a hindsight because it's "fashionable" to talk about. Luka was still only -3 for the game, if his defense was so bad, Wolves should have won by 20.

But just to give you actual stats.

Wolves attempted 25 FG's on Doncic in a direct matchup, they scored on only 10 of them, that's 40% shooting. Luka, Rui and Gobert also contested the most shots out of both teams.

Was his defense good? Maybe it was just average at best.... but was it the reason why the lost, 100% no.

Well somebody took the bait.

Haha, you're right My bad

[NZB2323]

At the end of the day, the Lakers aren't any good. The Wolves aren't necessarily any good either. Wolves have potential, but, won't do anything this year.

LAL hype going into the series and the playoffs in general was pretty ridiculous.

I get it. Nobody watches the Wolves, so they repeat stuff they read online or what they hear from “experts”.

NOBODY picked the Wolves to beat the Suns last years. Even after sweeping the Suns, NOBODY had the Wolves beating the defending champs (Nuggets).

This year, same thing…”Antman, Ironman, Spider-Man - Lakers in 5”.

This Wolves team is finally healthy (and good). They are DEEP. Believe it.

If they somehow advance, and meet OKC in the WCF it will be a battle, but OKC is just too damn good and I agree - the Wolves “won’t do anything this year.” as nobody remembers teams that make it to the WCF.

If not for OKC, this Wolves team has a real chance to make their first trip to the Finals.

I don’t know man, the 2002 Kings, 2000 Blazers, 2004 Wolves, 2005 Suns, and 2018 Rockets are all remembered.

[Sharkboy242]

At the end of the day, the Lakers aren't any good. The Wolves aren't necessarily any good either. Wolves have potential, but, won't do anything this year.

LAL hype going into the series and the playoffs in general was pretty ridiculous.

People forget that the 3-7 seeds basically had the same records. The Lakers were one loss away from the play-in. Their lack of depth is beyond concerning - playing hero ball with Luka all day is cute in the regular season but it’s been exposed quick. Laker fans saw this coming - they need a full offseason to field a more balanced roster.

How can you even say this with a straight face? I can look at your post history and see your prediction man.

The revisionist history is wild.

[Red8911]

And he accused me of disappearing after two games last year. Looks like he got a lot of thinking to do to get the Lakers right again and win this series in 5. Maybe Luka will go for 100pts the next game.

To be fair, blaming this game on Doncic's defense would be idiotic to say the least. Feels more like trolling so obviously he'll respond to these type of posts. Just basically baiting him to go for another 50 post thread

Dude he gave up like 80 points.

Doncic was on roller skates the whole game.

That’s why Luka- LeBron together will be tough to be successful. Both don’t defend and both need players around them to do the dirty work.

[TimberKat]

How would you rank the playoff coaching by JJ Redick?

This is one of the worst coaching performances I can remember. This combined with game 1 were particularly bad.


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What levers does he have to pull? Lakers are 3 deep

If I have to look at the bright side, this game was really Lakers dictated the tempro and style of play. Both stars were playing great and LA got others involved. It's easily a Lakers win. Can they run the same game plan and get a couple more people involve?

[mkot]

I’m still stunned LeBron chose to shoot that Curry-like 3 when they were up two points at 113-111. Just AWFUL

He’s been doing that for about 6 years. He always jacks up a knockout 3 to put the game away, and it never goes in.

He’s way too smart of a player for that. If he’d just attacked the rim, good things would have transpired and i think they would have taken some kind of control.

That's what you do when you were dead tired, you settled.

[___Rand___]

Lebron tonight:

0 points in the 4th quarter

0-3 in the clutch

2 turnovers in the last 3 minutes of the game.

JJ was incompetent for making his guys play the whole second half knowing they have conditioning issues. I understand it's a do or die game but that's what you have staggered rotations for.

There's correlation between the two. JJ gambled and lost. It was late 4th when Lakers were tired that TWolves closed the gap and won. Rookie mistake. His manage of end game in game 3 also cost Lakers a winnable game though there Luka had a big share of the loss.

So is there also correlation between:

(1)Lebron’s stats/ performance in the Finals and
(2) his weaker earlier rounds East opponents (vs Western teams)

Thus enabling him to go to the Finals with fresher legs and less injuries compared to the Western teams he was facing during the bulk of his prime in the East?

Because here you’re saying Lebron didn’t perform well late because he logged a lot of minutes in the 1st 3 quarters. So is it fair to say and compare that to the whole playoffs when he was in the East he had an easier well-rested 1st 3 quarters (weaker East teams in 1st and 2nd round) thus enabling him to perform better in last quarter (Finals)

Compared to his opponents from the West who had to go hard the 1st 3 quarters (tougher Western competition) thus losing gas in the last quarter (Finals) just like Lebron did today

huh? LOL.

[The Warrior]

LeBron doing GOAT things. What else is new?

Choking late in games. Oh wait that's not new.

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I don’t think you know what choking means.

Deferring and coming up short consistently when it matters. Thanks.

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