MINNEAPOLIS — Anthony Edwards scored 29 points and Jaden McDaniels scored a playoff career-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defence as the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series on Friday night.
Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored the Lakers 13-1 over the final 4:37 of the game after Luka Doncic’s tying baseline jumper.
LeBron James did the heavy lifting with Doncic playing through a stomach illness, scoring 38 points including three three-pointers in a four-possession span midway through the fourth quarter. But he couldn’t find a shot after that, hitting the side of the backboard with a corner heave with the Lakers down 111-104 with 1:26 left.
Game 4 is in Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon.
Austin Reaves had 20 points on 5-for-11 shooting from three-point range, where the Lakers stayed hot all night to stay close — offsetting 19 turnovers the Wolves converted into 28 points.
Randle, a first-round draft pick by the Lakers in 2014 who missed the playoffs last year with New York and has only played in 18 career post-season games, was especially fired up for his first home playoff game with Minnesota. He went 9-for-10 from the free throw line and hustled all over the floor, leading the charge in a 56-26 edge the Wolves had in points in the paint.
Doncic was frequently smothered by McDaniels, Minnesota’s ace perimeter defender, and had a particularly sluggish start. Doncic needed a step-back 28-footer with Edwards guarding him in the closing seconds of the first half to get to eight points at the break.
The Target Center crowd that watched Doncic dismantle Minnesota’s league-leading defence for Dallas in the Western Conference finals last spring was delighted to see the demonstrative five-time All-NBA pick struggle. He didn’t have much opportunity to play the villain, struggling to create clean shots and barely bothering to talk much trash.
The Wolves wisely hunted Doncic on the other end of the floor, too, trying to exploit the weaknesses for a player whose defence is not an asset on a night when he clearly didn’t have all of his strength to begin with.
Rudy Gobert never got a single shot off but was a pest on defense as usual, poking the ball away from Doncic at the top of the key on one possession in the third quarter to start a fast break that McDaniels finished with a layup and a foul on Doncic for a three-point play and an 80-75 lead.
That sequence that had the fans roaring came shortly after Edwards, who otherwise struggled to finish his drives to the basket, dunked over Doncic after adjusting the ball in mid-flight to avoid the block.
