The Los Angeles Lakers were able to hold on for a win against the Utah Jazz, but the team didn’t get much of a break to enjoy it as they continued their four-game road trip against the Minnesota Timberwolves on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Timberwolves have been inconsistent as of late, but it didn’t matter as they had no problem blowing out the Lakers [score].
It was a bit of a low start offensively for both teams, though Los Angeles got on the board after Rui Hachimura found LeBron James for a baseline lob. Rudy Gobert proved to be a problem in the paint as he was able to grab offensive rebounds for putbacks, leaving the Lakers trailing 12-9 midway through the first.
Anthony Davis got the team back on track with a couple of jump shots and a tough drive out of a timeout to give the team a lead. LeBron James struggled to get some easy looks to go, and the Timberwolves’ last-second layup gave them a 22-20 edge at the end of the first.
Armel Traore gave L.A. a shot in the arm with his rim-running in transition, but Minnesota found their rhythm from deep to extend their lead. Even with Davis back on the floor, the Lakers struggled to get stops and they fell behind by double digits.
Los Angeles did themselves no favors by settling for jump shots, though that was partly due to Minnesota’s defense clogging the painted area. D’Angelo Russell did his part offensively by knocking down some 3-pointers, but the Lakers found themselves down 56-44 at halftime.
Hachimura got things going again for L.A. with a dunk underneath and a mid-range jumper, Julius Randle continued to take advantage of the team’s soft defense. James’ offensive woes hampered the Lakers’ ability to cut into the deficit as they fell behind by as many as 15.
Anthony Edwards buried a triple amidst his quiet night, though Gobert kept Los Angeles at bay with a putback dunk. Randle’s physicality offensively was tough for the Lakers to work through and they went into the fourth trailing 79-64.
The top of the final period was a rough one for the Lakers as they had nothing going their way on either end, allowing the Timberwolves to blow the game open. Sensing his team didn’t have a comeback left in them, head coach JJ Redick emptied his bench and took the loss.
James struggled to get to 10 points as he shot 4-of-16 from the field while Davis was not much better with 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
What’s next for Lakers
The Lakers will continue their road trip on Wednesday against the Miami Heat before finishing it off with a game against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.
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