The Los Angeles Lakers battled hard all night but ultimately came up short in Game 3 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. With Luka Doncic battling an illness, LeBron James stepped up in a big way while Austin Reaves also had his best game of the series with 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough as the Lakers were their own worst enemy on Friday night, failing to take care of the ball and allowing for untimely offensive rebounds. Despite the effort, the Lakers played sloppy and Reaves feels that is what cost them Game 3.
Speaking after the loss, Reaves noted that it’s impossible for the Lakers to win if they allow that many more possessions to the Timberwolves, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“They won the possession battle. And then our 19 turnovers for 28 points. Offensive rebounds. It’s hard to win anytime you give up double-digit more opportunities to score so we gotta clean that up.”
The Lakers’ 104 points and 47.4% shooting from the field were both series highs, so the offense was a bit better. But they got up just 78 shot attempts as opposed to the Timberwolves taking 91 shots. As Reaves said, that big of a disparity is extremely tough to make up.
But despite another loss and now being down 2-1 in the series, Reaves insists the mood inside the Lakers locker room is just fine:
“Mood’s good. We see the spots where we have to be better to win games and we’ll have to fix that on Sunday.”
The Lakers only have one day off before taking the court for a Sunday matinee Game 4 that is a must-win for this team. They responded well after the Game 1 loss and now will have to do the same, which will require Reaves to have his best performance of the series, and the Lakers as a team to lock in and fix these mistakes.
JJ Redick unhappy with Lakers’ turnovers in Game 3
Austin Reaves’ thoughts after Game 3 mirrored those of Lakers head coach JJ Redick, who was also critical of his team for their inability to take care of the ball.
Redick credited the Timberwolves’ defense, but also felt like a lot of the Lakers’ turnovers were unforced as well and he felt his team was trying to do too much at times. Redick added that he felt the Lakers got good looks when they weren’t turning the ball over, but felt the discrepancy in shot attempts was too much to make up.
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