Sports
Lakers First-Round Loss: Season Ends in Disappointment Against Timberwolves
Lakers first-round loss
Since the day he got it, the shirt—a replica of the Lakers’ famous golden jerseys with “Doncic” on the back and No. 77 on the front—has remained in LeBron James‘ spare locker.
When the Lakers executed the midseason deal that brought them two of the NBA’s top big-game performers, James publicly signaled that he was ready to embrace the collaboration by wearing a jersey just like it during pregame warmups on February 10.
However, Luka Doncic was grimacing during their season-ending Game 5 defeat to Minnesota on Wednesday after a foul jarred his lower back in the first half. In the fourth quarter, James hobbled off the court, hardly putting any weight on his left leg.
Nevertheless, the two were on the floor with just over seven minutes remaining, and the Lakers were prepared to support the popular notion that the tighter the game, the better off they would be due to their leaders.
With three minutes remaining and the Lakers behind by two, the scoreboard in Crypto.com Arena displayed highlights of Doncic and James, with their No. 77 and No. 23 jerseys totaling up to 100.
However, the arithmetic never added up, just as it did in the latter quarters of this first-round playoff series.
Doncic missed a crucial layup once more. Once more, James struggled to establish a rhythm throughout the fourth quarter.
Even though the Doncic shirt was hanging in the Lakers’ locker room, the optimism that had grown over the previous two months completely vanished as the team lost 103-96, capping the first chapter of the James-Doncic partnership.
The fact that Minnesota missed 40 three-pointers, the most of any club in a postseason victory, was irrelevant. The Timberwolves ended with a 54-37 lead, seemingly grabbing every rebound. Anthony Edwards was only five for 19 from the field, but it didn’t matter since the Lakers were unable to score. Even though the Lakers were playing at home, Minnesota silenced the crowd as the Timberwolves dominated the fourth quarter defensively for the sixth consecutive game.
Lakers coach JJ Redick started Dorian Finney-Smith in the second half of Game 4 and benched big Jaxson Hayes, sacrificing size for speed and spacing. Rudy Gobert, the center for the Timberwolves, punished the Lakers this time with playoff career highs of 27 points and 24 rebounds.
Doncic scored 28 points on seven-for-18 shooting after overcoming a poor start. James made nine of 21 shots to score 22 points. Austin Reaves missed eight of ten three-pointers and finished with just 12 points on five of fourteen shots.
The Lakers never appeared to have it easy throughout any of the series.
The majority of the credit should go to Minnesota, who not only appeared to be the more united team but also played as if they were made specifically to draw attention to all of the Lakers’ weaknesses.
A team that always seemed to play harder defeated the Lakers, who won games by playing hard. A tougher squad defeated the Lakers, who had home-court advantage because of their toughness. Additionally, the Lakers, who were capable of defeating any team throughout the regular season, suffered a series defeat to a club they were clearly unable to defeat.
In an angry response to a pregame question suggesting he needed to rely on his assistant coaches to properly manage late-game substitutions, Redick said the Lakers were “on edge” during the practice before to Game 5.
His team lost ground rapidly. When the Lakers selected Minnesota’s Julius Randle in the 2014 first round, he appeared to be the dominant tone-setter the franchise had envisioned. Randle was the first component of the Lakers’ post-Kobe Bryant plans.
Only one of eight shots was made in the first quarter by James and Doncic, who had the best two scoring averages in NBA history during elimination games. The crowd’s whispers lengthened with every miss, reflecting the Lakers’ diminishing opportunities.
Early in the second quarter, the team exerted pressure as Randle and Jaden McDaniels—possibly the most useful player in the series—sat with foul trouble, allowing the Lakers to get within a single possession many times.
However, the Lakers and their players appeared more like distinct individuals than an unstoppable force when they needed to capitalize. Doncic flew to the corner and delivered a ball straight to Edwards, and James attempted to locate him. Due to Doncic’s inability to play on the defensive string the Lakers all needed to be using, James became openly frustrated with the Lakers’ bench as a result of Minnesota’s easy baskets.
However, the Lakers accomplished something they hadn’t done much of this season: they controlled the third quarter with their season on the line. After falling behind 14 points, the Lakers rallied to take the lead on a three from Dorian Finney-Smith. They then traded points with the Timberwolves to cut the deficit to one going into the fourth quarter.
However, the Lakers’ offense, which had the potential to be more effective, ended weakly in the fourth quarter, scoring just 16 points.
The Lakers have never lost a first-round series as a No. 3 seed or higher. In their previous three postseason series, they had a 2–12 record.