Naz Reid (C) of the Minnesota Timberwolves penetrates in the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, April 7, 2024. /CFP
The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 127-117 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday, ending the opponents' four-game winning streak. The loss pushed the purple and gold to ninth place in the Western Conference with a 45-34 record, half a game below the Sacramento Kings and 1.5 games above the Golden State Warriors.
LeBron James sat out against the Timberwolves, which meant that the Lakers would go to both Anthony Davis and D'Angelo Russell for more offensive contributions. The opponents knew that and thus focused more defensive efforts on the two. Russell was guarded by one of the league's best wing defenders Jaden McDaniels. He made only five of his nine 19 field goal (FG) attempts to get 15 points, but managed to deliver 11 assists.
Davis didn't achieve much thanks to a very focused defender in Rudy Gobert. He was kept out of the restricted area during most of the isolation possessions. Three of his six shots were jumpers and he missed all of them. However, Davis made good use of Gobert's moments of being distracted for help defense to grab three offensive rebounds in the first quarter.
Anthony Edwards (C) of the Minnesota Timberwolves drives toward the rim in the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, April 7, 2024. /CFP
When Davis and Russell lured away most of the Timberwolves' defense, Rui Hachimura, Spencer Dinwiddie and Austin Reaves combined to shoot 7-for-10 from the field to get 23 points for the purple and gold in the first period, securing their side a four-point lead (37-33) in this quarter.
Nonetheless, the Lakers took a big blow at the end of the first quarter when Davis was hit in the left eye by Kyle Anderson (whose Chinese name is Li Kaier). He went to the locker room for medical treatment during the following break and never came back for the rest of the game.
Davis' absence was lethal to the Lakers on both ends of the game. Offensively they lacked a major threat under the hoop; defensively, the team had to stand a vacuum in their own paint that waited to be abused by Anthony Edwards, Gobert and Naz Reid.
Rui Hachimura (#28) of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots in the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, April 7, 2024. /CFP
In fact, the purple and gold showed signs of firepower exhausting at the beginning of the second period when they started to send bench players like Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish to the court. They posed so little offensive threat that it cost the Timberwolves nothing to further favor containing Russell and Reaves.
The Lakers' defensive policy failed too on Sunday night. Their first choice of guarding the Timberwolves' screen plays was to go around the screen, but soon regreted as the opponents knocked down 11 triples out of 20 attempts in the first half. However, after the Lakers began to close out more, they watched Edwards break in like a hot knife through butter. Furthermore, without Davis protecting the paint, not only did Edwards have his way there, Gobert went 9-for-13 in FGs and grabbed eight offensive rebounds.
The Timberwolves led by as many as 20 points (84-64) in the third quarter. Reid made 11 of his 13 FG attempts before the fourth period to get 28 points. The game wasn't early decided because Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes held their side together with 49 points in combination. However, without effective defense, the Lakers eventually threw in the white towel before the end of the fourth period.
Kyrie Irving (#11) of the Dallas Mavericks shoots in the game against the Houston Rockets at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, April 7, 2024. /CFP
Other games on Sunday (away teams come first):
Houston Rockets 136-147 Dallas Mavericks
When the two teams met the last time in Houston on March 31, the Mavericks ended the Rockets' 11-game winning streak. They played each other again at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Sunday. This time, the Mavericks shut down the final drop of hope the Rockets had to appear in the play-in tournament.
Both Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving played over 44 minutes for the Mavericks in the game. Irving shot 15-for-25 from the field and 15-for-17 at the free throw line to drop court-high 48 points. Doncic made 12 of his 21 FG attempts to add 37 points in addition to nine rebounds and 12 assists.
Paul George (#13) of the Los Angeles Clippers shoots in the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, April 7, 2024. /CFP
Cleveland Cavaliers 118-120 Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers claimed their biggest comeback win of 26 points at Crypto.com Arena over the Cavaliers. Paul George knocked down every of his 16 free throws to get 39 points for the Clippers, including 23 in the final quarter. He first made a 2-point jumper with ankle breaker in front of Even Mobley to made his side lead 120-118 when there were 7.1 seconds left. Then he blocked Darius Garland's buzz-beating layup in help defense, giving the Clippers their third consecutive win.
The Cavaliers saw three of their players score at least 20 points in Sunday's game and set franchise record with 80 points in the first half. However, the team struggled badly to make shots in the third and fourth periods, during which they missed 27 of their 40 FGs.
Miami Heat 115-117 Indiana Pacers
Portland Trail Blazers 107-124 Boston Celtics
Oklahoma City Thunder 121-118 Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls 98-113 Orlando Magic
Washington Wizards 122-130 Toronto Raptors
New Orleans Pelicans 113-105 Phoenix Suns
New York Knicks 122-109 Milwaukee Bucks
Philadelphia 76ers 133-126 San Antonio Spurs
Sacramento Kings 107-77 Brooklyn Nets
Utah Jazz 110-118 Golden State Warriors