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

[Revived]

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Man imagine someone trying MJ like this back in the 90s lol

[California Gold]

Is hand-checking legal again? Randle and Edwards were constantly using both hands to stop penetration.

I'm not saying the Lakers played perfect defense without fouling — you could argue more calls were missed on their end too — but the hand-checking really stood out.

Also, what was up with Ant shoving LeBron a few times with both hands while crossing half court? I know a lot of people loved it because he "intimidated" LeBron and got in his head, but to me, that’s an easy & stupid away-from-the-ball foul that should be called 100/100 times.

This was my only problem with the game, especially in the 2nd half. I believe it sealed the Wolves basically winning it for sure. Without that it still goes either way but I didn't think the Lakers were going to win with how the refs completely changing what they allowed in the 1st half vs what they allowed in the 2nd half. It's too much to ask for consistency these days from the refs.

[Slim Tubby]

Being down 3-1 is tough, BUT:

1. Lakers regained homecourt advantage.
2. Lakers now only have to win one game on the road to win the series.
3. JJ figured out how to beat MIN for most of the game.

So I think this is 50/50.

You've rendered me speechless, Tony Robbins.

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[KyRo23]

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Man imagine someone trying MJ like this back in the 90s lol

Why narrow it down to the 90s? The Pistons kicked Jordan's ass, yelled in his face, knocked him out and didn't fear him

Yall have some really weird myth fetishes about players. Like they're robots or something

[KyRo23]

Is LeBron the oldest to go scoreless in back-to-backs 4th quarters?

That can’t be a stat. Scoreless two games in a row in the 4th ?!

There's a stat for everything.

There would be a stat for it if it were true....

LeBron scored 11 points in the 4th in game 3. This thread is literally the epitome of lead paint exposure

[Jta444]

Another scoreless 4th quarter for Lebron.

I don’t think his body and his mind is conditioned to ramp up as early as April. His whole prime career in the East he mostly had to show up only in the Finals, sometimes in the conference Finals, but the first two rounds were always gimmes where he could just relax and pick his spots thus enabling him to have fresher legs come June.

He’s not used to this type of competition in the West where all rounds are hard and you have to fight for. And it shows in his record in the West in the past 5 years.

Come to think of it, if he played this type of competition in the early rounds during his prime in the East, would he still have had the same type of energy and performances he had in those many Finals of his?

I think yes, but to a lesser degree. I also think he won’t reach the Finals 8 straight times.

Is it his fault he didn’t have competition? Well no. But also maybe. He did have a knack of teaming up with stars in the same conference (Wade, Kyrie, AD) to further dilute the competition.

But yea bottomline is Lebron is lucky to not have this type of conference back in his heyday. He’d still be generational, but slightly less legendary than how his fanboys seem to suggest all the time.

[NiceLikeChrist]

At this time I’d like to circle back to that myth of “playoff Randle” so many people tricked themselves into believing. Because so many of you obsess over stats without context you thought you could Randle off two playoff runs. One where he was literally carrying a team solo and was heavily game planned against, and another run where he missed end of season with a bad ankle injury, re-aggravated that ankle in the first round, and eventually needed surgery on it after elimination.

Had to hear for a whole week about how playoff Randle will be timberwolves demise. Now we’re 5 games in and he’s averaging 22/5/4 on 50/50/80 but I haven’t seen many people admit their stat watching malpractice.

[kaansunman]

Another scoreless 4th quarter for Lebron.

I don’t think his body and his mind is conditioned to ramp up as early as April. His whole prime career in the East he mostly had to show up only in the Finals, sometimes in the conference Finals, but the first two rounds were always gimmes where he could just relax and pick his spots thus enabling him to have fresher legs come June.

He’s not used to this type of competition in the West where all rounds are hard and you have to fight for. And it shows in his record in the West in the past 5 years.

Come to think of it, if he played this type of competition in the early rounds during his prime in the East, would he still have had the same type of energy and performances he had in those many Finals of his?

I think yes, but to a lesser degree. I also think he won’t reach the Finals 8 straight times.

Is it his fault he didn’t have competition? Well no. But also maybe. He did have a knack of teaming up with stars in the same conference (Wade, Kyrie, AD) to further dilute the competition.

But yea bottomline is Lebron is lucky to not have this type of conference back in his heyday. He’d still be generational, but slightly less legendary than how his fanboys seem to suggest all the time.

I am not a Lebron fan at all but this is unfair to say. Yes, the competition especially in the second half of 2010's were easier but you can't compare 40 year old LeBron to that.

It's all on JJ Reddick and the staff. You can't play the whole second half with the same five. Luka was ill, try to recover, LeBron is 40 years old. We saw that how many times with LeBron in the last couple years. If he starts well he is out of fuel at the last quarter and it is perfectly normal. Plus he is giving everything in defense. Put Vincent for 2-3 minutes, Hayes 1-2 minutes, give your best two players a breather.

I didn't understand how and why he wasted his last timeout during Wolves challenge? Wait for the outcome of the challenge than act accordingly.

[DonaldSanders]

Ant was a beast!! Love seeing his rise.

JJ blew the game.

1) Bad early challenge, never challenge a 50/50 bump call early, the refs hate changing their call. Easily could have used it later.
2) Playing 40 year old LeBron and Luka 46 minutes apiece is insane. The Wolves coming back the 2nd half of the 4th was extremely predictable.

The Lakers have 3 offensive creators with somewhat duplicative skills, it is insane not to give them all rests.

[pepe1991]

Said it before series started, Lakers C rotation isn't nba- level let alone playoffs level.

Perimeter defense offer little to no resistance, Lakers compensate it by being in variations of 2-3 zone often and allow lot of open 3s because help defense has to help Luka and Reaves way more than they should, so passing lines lead straight into wide open 3s from corner, if ballhandlers make reads on time.

Also coin flip Randle in this series flipped in Wolves favor.


Even whole "ran out Gobert" plan isn't really working. Guy airballs self tip,but still spikes several balls for offensive rebounds. All the little things at the end add up.

[Tracymcgoaty]

Just play with some **** pride next game and dont get swept more or less. But i think they'll lay down. I think Lebron and Luka gonna be cooked next game.

Whatever happens i can see positives. We saw Reaves ain't it. He's tradeable. We dont need three creators. We need two way players.

[Lakers In 5]

I don't have much of a problem with JJ going 5 deep that second half. Some of these guys are just not to be trusted. Reaves was awful in the first half, someone is in his head, and I am still haunted by DFS setting a **** screen on the damn sideline.

It was obvious it was just fingers crossed, hoping to get out of here 2 games a piece, and then get to use the extra day off. Almost a copy of Denver the other day, except this time there wasn't a Gordon picking up an airball and turning it into a game winner. Using the challenge so early in the game was a big no-no. Not only have you wasted it on a collision foul which hardly get overturned, but you've lost a precious breather for nothing. We don't have enough weapons to compete unless Luka and LeBron are just playing at a high level for 48 minutes, which is a very hard thing to ask of them.

[Domejandro]

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[metalinguss]

Loved seeing Jaden McDaniels step up this post season. He might not have played as well in Game 4 but he’s not backing down from guarding Luka at all.

[durden_tyler]

Is hand-checking legal again? Randle and Edwards were constantly using both hands to stop penetration.

I'm not saying the Lakers played perfect defense without fouling — you could argue more calls were missed on their end too — but the hand-checking really stood out.

Also, what was up with Ant shoving LeBron a few times with both hands while crossing half court? I know a lot of people loved it because he "intimidated" LeBron and got in his head, but to me, that’s an easy & stupid away-from-the-ball foul that should be called 100/100 times.

Welcome to the Playoffs. The teams that adjusts faster to how the physicality is called will have the upperhand in the series.

The Wolves can mud it up, while the Lakers just don’t have the tools for it and/or just too soft and old.


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[SweetTouch]

Is hand checking allowed again

I’m watching this highlights and damn

Hand checking is back, this makes it matter for the game. Make it easier for defenders , make these offensive players have to run a play

[bledredwine]

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Man imagine someone trying MJ like this back in the 90s lol

Why narrow it down to the 90s? The Pistons kicked Jordan's ass, yelled in his face, knocked him out and didn't fear him

Yall have some really weird myth fetishes about players. Like they're robots or something

His point was how MJ would react to it.

You know, like this

Watch on YouTube

[Mk0]

Just play with some **** pride next game and dont get swept more or less. But i think they'll lay down. I think Lebron and Luka gonna be cooked next game.

Whatever happens i can see positives. We saw Reaves ain't it. He's tradeable. We dont need three creators. We need two way players.

We talked about it before. If he can net you a solid big man that legitimately fits with Luka you pull the trigger but ideally he is Dollar General Ginobili off your bench and gives you legit depth.

It all depends on what the Lakers do. In the past LeBron teams always traded the young guys and draft picks for vets, but Luka is just entering his prime and we saw what he did with a rookie Lively. The big question is if Rob will try to do some 'two-timelines' bullsh#% or actually build around Luka.

[Mavrelous]

I don't think Luka is that diffetent than last year Luka, supporting cast and depth made the whole difference, Lakers 25 Vs Mavs 24 is a perfect lesson in the importance of team building, it sucks that LeBron is caught in the middle.of roster shift in LA, this is way too good of a performance at 40 y/o to be wasted, but the team was short on big men depth before the trade and had 0 bigs after the trade, and 0 POA players, Christie isn't that good but would have contributed 20 MPG in this matchup...

[AussieCeltic]

Being down 3-1 is tough, BUT:

1. Lakers regained homecourt advantage.
2. Lakers now only have to win one game on the road to win the series.
3. JJ figured out how to beat MIN for most of the game.

So I think this is 50/50.

You've rendered me speechless, Tony Robbins.

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Reminds me of the “we figured out Jokic” threads from a few years back