Tyson Chandler provided productive minutes and a key offensive tip out in his debut with the Los Angeles Lakers and they were able to erase a deficit and hung on for a 114-110 victory that denied the Minnesota Timberwolves their first road win of the season.
After watching the Timberwolves drain 14 attempts behind the arc in their first meeting, Lakers head coach pointed to that area as a point of emphasis. While he stressed the Lakers needing to run Minnesota off the line, they went 20-for-40 from deep.
Jimmy Butler again was in the thick of their marksmanship, connecting on 5 of his 8 attempts. However it was Derrick Rose who led the way with seven 3-pointers en route to 31 points, though he did miss a go-ahead 3-pointer in the final seconds.
The Lakers had a strong showing from three themselves, going 15-for-34. The bulk of that was done by Josh Hart who made his first four 3-pointers and 5 of 7 overall.
Even with their struggles to cool off the Timberwolves, the Lakers had improved energy from the start of the game, a welcomed change from their loss to the Toronto Raptors, and largely kept pace. That put them in position to take the lead in the fourth quarter on LeBron James’ 3-pointer.
James uncharacteristically participated in early warmups, and he rode that into a hot start. James finished the first quarter with eight points to go along with three assists. He led the Lakers with 24 points.
The slim lead James helped provide was wiped away when Butler completed a four-point play with just under eight minutes remaining. James responded shortly after with a go-ahead 3-pointer and Brandon Ingram later did the same to put the Lakers ahead by three with four minutes remaining.
True to what he said would be the case, Lonzo Ball used his defensive activity as a way to become engaged. Ball only made one field goal but he had 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals.