The Los Angeles Lakers were embarrassed on their home court to start the NBA Playoffs on Saturday night, as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat them 117-95 in a game where starters didn’t even need to stay on the floor throughout the fourth quarter.
The Lakers are the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference to begin these playoffs, but the Timberwolves were having their way on the offensive end to hand them the only home-team loss on opening night of the playoffs.
The poor performance led one Lakers legend to try and light a fire underneath his former squad.
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Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards drives past Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves at Crypto.com Arena. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images)
“Tonight was one of the Lakers worst performances this season,” Magic Johnson wrote on X. “They were flat, had no energy, and they played like it was a regular season game.”
Johnson wasn’t done there, as he also pointed a finger at head coach JJ Redick.
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“Coach JJ Redick did a great job all season but he didn’t do a good job for Game 1,” Johnson continued. “The Lakers stood around on offense, played too much one-on-one basketball, and he didn’t make any necessary adjustments.”
If adjustments were made, they didn’t work against Minnesota’s offensive attack, which shot 51.2% from the field as a team and a whopping 50% from beyond the arc.
The Timberwolves were raining threes, going 21-for-42 with big man Naz Reid having the hot hand, burying six of his nine three-point attempts.
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards drives past Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura at Crypto.com Arena. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images)
Anthony Edwards, who was close to notching a triple-double with 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, also hit four threes despite a shaky outing (8-for-22 shooting overall). Jaden McDaniels was highly efficient with a team-high 25 points on 11-for-13 shooting with nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, the Lakers struggled throughout the game, shooting 39.8% from the field. Luka Doncic was the exception, going 12-for-22 from the field, and 5-for-10 from three, for a game-high 37 points. LeBron James was 8-for-18, while Austin Reaves was only 5-for-13.
Los Angeles was leading after the first quarter, but the Timberwolves got hot in the second and never looked back. By the end of the game, starters from both teams were resting, with Minnesota putting it out of reach.
James spoke after the game, where he recognized the Timberwolves’ offensive power.
Magic Johnson speaks during a ceremony celebrating Michael Cooper’s induction into the basketball hall of fame at halftime of a game between the Lakers and the Denver Nuggets at Crypto.com Arena on April 25, 2024, in Los Angeles. (Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)
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“They’re going to be physical,” he explained. “That’s what they bring to the table. It took us one game… (to) understand that. They took home court advantage from us tonight, but we have to control the controllables, and if we do that, we’ll have a much better chance to win than we did tonight.”
The Lakers and Timberwolves are back in action on Tuesday for Game 2 of their first-round matchup.
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