Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers look to pick up their fifth consecutive win and continue their climb up the Western Conference standings in a potential first round playoff preview against Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night.
Unfortunately though, the Lakers are without LeBron James after he was ruled out with flu-like symptoms. Additionally, Gabe Vincent was also ruled out with it being the second of a back-to-back and him still working his was back from knee surgery.
With their win on Saturday, the Lakers finally moved up to eighth in the West, increasing their odds of making the playoffs as either the 7 or 8-seed where they could meet Minnesota, who are currently second in the West, just 0.5 games behind the Denver Nuggets for the top seed.
Davis has completely dominated the Timberwolves this season and that will need to continue if the Lakers plan on leaving with a victory, especially without James in the lineup.
Davis is averaging 30.3 points, 16.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 3.7 steals and 2.7 blocks in the three meetings so far as matching up with Gobert just seems to bring a different side out of the big man. Davis is coming off a 22-point, 13-rebound and 6-block outing in Saturday’s win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Making sure Davis stays in attack mode should be the top priority, but right behind that is ensuring D’Angelo Russell gets going. The point guard has struggled against his former team and the Lakers will be reliant on his shooting ability and creation against the NBA’s best defense.
The Timberwolves have been the league’s top defense all year long thanks to Gobert anchoring things down low and Jaden McDaniels turning into one of the top perimeter defenders in the NBA as well. That hasn’t prevented Davis from dominating, but the Lakers will greatly need role players to knock down open shots so the defense can’t focus solely on Davis.
The key for the Lakers defensively is figuring out a way to contain Edwards. One of the brightest young stars in the league, the Lakers need to give him many different looks and try not to let him get a head of steam going down the lane as he is basically unstoppable at that point.
The Lakers must also do a better job defending Naz Reid, who has been outstanding since entering the starting lineup in place of the injured Karl-Anthony Towns. Additionally, even though Minnesota doesn’t shoot a lot of 3-pointers, they are tied for the league-lead in 3-point percentage, so if the Lakers aren’t careful, they can get very hot from deep and bury L.A.
This could ultimately come down to which team better imposes their will. The Lakers like to use their defense to get out in transition and the Timberwolves’ struggles taking care of the ball play into that. The Timberwolves on the other hand like to grind teams down in the halfcourt and would love to keep the pace slowed down.
Both teams are in standings battles in the West and can’t afford to lose, which should lead to an intense battle of two teams who have played in close games all year long.
Los Angeles Lakers (45-33) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (53-24)
7:00 p.m. PT, April 7, 2024
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California
TV: NBA TV, Spectrum SportsNet
Radio: 710 AM ESPN LA
Projected Lakers starting lineup:
PG: D’Angelo Russell
SG: Austin Reaves
SF: Spencer Dinwiddie
PF: Rui Hachimura
C: Anthony Davis
Key Reserves: Taurean Prince, Jaxson Hayes, Max Christie, Cam Reddish
Projected Timberwolves starting lineup:
PG: Mike Conley
SG; Anthony Edwards
SF: Jaden McDaniels
PF: Naz Reid
C: Rudy Gobert
Key Reserves: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Kyle Anderson, Jordan McLaughlin, Monte Morris
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