Sovereign looks different. The Minnesota Timberwolves (21-13) are in their own way most of the time, but in the end there is still a 121:104 victory (BOXSCORE) against the Los Angeles Lakers (11-21). Kyle Kuzma’s strong performance is not rewarded.
Not a good omen for the Lakers: Head coach Luke Walton had to give up three starters at once. In addition to Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Brook Lopez also dropped out for the Timberwolves duel. But at least they still have Kyle Kuzma.
At the start of the game, the rookie was almost solely responsible for the home team’s attack. 10 of the 20 Lakers points were scored by Kuzma, while the rest of the team scored just 26.3 percent. Accordingly, it was hardly surprising that Minnesota took an early 10-point lead.
However, this should not last too long. The Timberwolves let their opponent come back into the match again due to numerous mistakes of their own. At the break there was nothing left of the lead from the first quarter (53:52 for Minnesota) and the third leg was similarly balanced. The Timberwolves missed it because of their almost lethargic playing style. So it somehow suited to the performance of the guests, when Nemanja Bjelcia unnecessarily fouled Kuzma at his halfcourt shot with the buzzer to the end of the quarter and sent Kuzma to the line.
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In the final section, however, Minnesota was serious. With a 16:1 run the Timberwolves threatened to divide, but by further ball losses the guests missed it to close the bag early. Led by Kuzma (31 points, 4 assists, 6/11 threesomes) and Jordan Clarkson (17 points, 7 assists) and Julius Randle (16 points, 7 rebounds) L. A. did it. in the closing minutes.
But the Lakers didn’t reach less than 6 points. With a clutch trio from Taj Gibson (23 points, 9 rebounds) from the corner, the Timberwolves made the final decision just three minutes before the end. Despite the solid performances of Jimmy Butler (23 points, 8 assists), Kar-Anthony Towns (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Jamal Crawford (19), Minnesota literally tormented themselves for the fourth consecutive victory. One could definitely not speak of a sovereign success against decimated Lakers.
Lakers vs. Wolves: Click here for the BOXSCORE!
Taj Gibson. From the very first minute, Gibson was both offensive and with his cough at the other end of the court. The 32-year-old veteran never lost his nerve and remained calm, unlike his fellow players in some situations. Meaning that he made the decision with his clutch threesome.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. In the absence of Ball, Ingram and Lopez, it would have been good for the Lakers if KCP had taken on a little scoring load. However, the 24-year-old was unable to do so. The Three-and-D-specialist only scored 8 points and 5 rebounds, but he only pocketed 3 of his 11 attempts from the field. That’s not enough.
Los Angeles was very good at exploiting the enemy’s mistakes by letting Clarkson, Kuzma and Co. to the speed. The numerous ball losses as well as the long ricochets after unsuccessful triads of the Timberwolves served as a template for the Lakers-transition. The fast play allowed the hosts to stay in the game for so long. When the Timberwolves made the game faster in the final section, they immediately started a small run.