The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 123-111 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday, securing their second straight win.

This victory enabled the purple and gold to rise to the seventh in the Western Conference. The team will have the home court advantage and can afford to lose one game in the play-in tournament if the regular season ends on Friday. Meanwhile, the Lakers are 1.5 games behind the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Clippers above. With five games to go, they are still theoretically hopeful of further rising to reach the playoffs automatically.

Anthony Davis was the best-performing Lakers in Friday's game as he dropped a double-double of 38 points and 17 rebounds. Having suffered a seemingly left ankle sprain early in the third quarter, he soon came back to the court and elevated the team's defensive intensity with his teammates, forcing five turnovers by the Timberwolves in this quarter alone. The Lakers capitalized well on these plays to outscore the opponents 35-18 in this period, including leading 17-0 in fast break points.

Having displayed his defensive dominance in the third quarter, Davis turned his offensive switch in the fourth period to get 17 points for the Lakers. He went 7-for-10 from the field, making six shots in the paint. The Timberwolves had no defensive solution to contain him, even though they had three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Rudy Gobert, on their roster.

LeBron James had a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds in addition to six assists for the Lakers on Friday night. He still has quite a lot to work on before finding his best offensive form back as James missed 12 of his 19 field goals (FGs), including eight of his nine jumpers. His individual defense is not as reliable as it used to be.

However, James could still help the Lakers on other fronts. For example, he had nine rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal in the third quarter. His performance was key to both solidifying the team's paint and launching fast rallies wave after wave. The one steal James got didn't tell the whole story of him participating in the continuous trapping defense that helped wipe the team's 13-point deficit quickly.

The Timberwolves lost a critical game for the play-in tournament and playoff berth race in the West. They led by as many as 13 points (68-55) in the third quarter, but fell into a shooting struggle since then, especially from downtown. The team missed 12 of their 14 3-point attempts in the third period. When they heated up again behind the arc in the fourth quarter, they found it difficult to charge into the Lakers' paint.

One of the major problems that has been plaguing the Timberwolves, namely the lack of chemistry between Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns, partly cost the team the home game on Friday. Coach Chris Finch had to put Gobert on the bench when the team struggled to score in the third quarter, but then had to watch their defense fall apart as a result. Towns is unable to play as a defensive spine for the Timberwolves. Nonetheless, when both he and Gobert were on the court, Towns had to leave the paint for Gobert and do more off-ball plays. That is such a big waste of his offensive relents.

Other games on Friday (away teams come first):

Atlanta Hawks 107-124 Brooklyn Nets

Mikal Bridges shot 17-for-24 from the field at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City, to score 42 points for the Nets on Friday. It is the third time for him to get 40 or more points for the team since he was traded here in February, more than Kyrie Irving and matching Kevin Durant, both of whom had played more than three seasons in the team.

Trae Young played one of his worst games this season for the Hawks on Friday night as he went 3-for-12 in FGs to get only 10 points and six assists. Though the team finished the first quarter with an eight-point lead (33-25), they were outscored by the Nets 76-46 in the following two periods, meaning that the game entered garbage time in the fourth quarter.

New York Knicks 130-116 Cleveland Cavaliers

Jalen Brunson dropped 48 points and nine assists for the Knicks at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio, on Friday, to pocket their third consecutive win. 31 of his 32 shots were jumpers and he made 17 of them. He had 21 points in the first quarter, enabling his team to survive the Cavaliers' fierce 47-point offense. Then Brunson added another 12 points in the second period for the Knicks to come back and take the lead.

Donovan Mitchell scored 42 points and five assists for the Cavaliers after shooting 16-for-23 from the field, but his efforts didn't translate into a victory for his team. Both the Cavaliers (48-30) and the Knicks (45-33) have only four games to go and will meet each other in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs with the home court advantage for the Cavaliers.

Los Angeles Clippers 94-108 Memphis Grizzlies

The Clippers began Friday's game at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee, with a 13-point lead (34-21) in the first quarter. Though the Grizzlies replied with a 34-17 run in the second period, the competition was so close in the first half that anything could happen.

That is why Kawhi Leonard sitting out the second half of the game is so confusing. He has suffered any injury during the 18 minutes he has played and scored 12 points plus four rebounds. The Clippers said ruling him out of the second-half game is a trade-off for him to play against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday.

Without Leonard, the Clippers went 16-for-45 from the field in the third and fourth quarters combined, suffering the loss that set their record at a tie with the Golden State Warriors (41-37). They have four more games to play and there is still a chance for the team to drop to the play-in tournament zone, where two games, instead of a series, can decide everything.

Chicago Bulls 121-91 Charlotte Hornets

Oklahoma City Thunder 117-121 Indiana Pacers

Toronto Raptors 110-117 Philadelphia 76ers

Orlando Magic 116-109 Washington Wizards

Utah Jazz 114-122 Boston Celtics

Detroit Pistons 115-121 Houston Rockets

San Antonio Spurs 115-130 Golden State Warriors

Sacramento Kings 138-114 Portland Trail Blazers

Denver Nuggets 93-100 Phoenix Suns