Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Lakers Play-In preview
The Los Angeles Lakers ended the season as the hottest team in the league, but will have to get through the Play-In against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Anytime LeBron and the Lakers take the floor it’s must see TV, but even more when they have a one-off chance to qualify for the first round of the playoffs. They will go up against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the opening tip of the Western Conference portion of the Play-In on Tuesday night as the 7 vs. 8 match up will decide who moves on and who has to play the do-or-die Play-In game against the winner of the 9 vs. 10 game a couple nights later.
Last year the Lakers missed the playoffs all together after finishing 11th in the West with a team that had LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook (all most likely future Hall of Famers). The Timberwolves made the Play-In Tournament and squeaked by the Clippers in the 7 vs. 8 matchup, but lost to Memphis in six games in the opening round of the playoffs.
Lakers trades spur revolution
The Lakers had a nightmare of a start to the regular season and needed to go through a midseason makeover to save their chances of reaching the postseason. LA lost their first five games, and 10 of their first 12 to put them behind the ball from the start of the campaign. The chemistry was off and the pieces of the puzzle just didn’t fit in the first half of Darvin Hamm’s debut year on the sidelines in LA.
Before All-Star game the front offices tried to shake things up, sending not just, but primarily, Russell Westbrook and a handful of other guys out and brining in fresh faces like Malik Beasley, Tony Brown Jr., Jared Vanderbilt and reintroducing D’Angelo Russell back to Laker nation. The result has worked wonders for LA who were on the outside of Play-In Standings not so long ago, but have soared up the standings and are now the hottest team in the NBA heading into the postseason.
Both Anthony Davis and LeBron James have missed significant time this season, but both seem to be getting back to full fitness. Since the return of both the Lakers have been almost unbeatable. They ended the season winning 9 of their last 11 and now face a Timberwolves team that is going through one of their bumpiest moments of the season.
Gobert suspended in LA
It was the image that dominated the final day of the NBA regular season. Rudy Gobert punching his own teammate, Kyle Anderson in a timeout during the T’Wolves massively important game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday afternoon. He has been suspended for the game against the Lakers which puts Minnesota at a huge disadvantage on the boards, but they still have the talent around the perimeter to put up a fight.
Minnesota was a dark horse coming into this season after bringing in the big Frenchman Gobert in the offseason. With an already young, but lethal inside out attack with Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, the T’Wolves were on everyone’s radar as D’Angelo Russell pulled the strings from the point guard position.
Some midseason trades sent two of their top four scorers away from Minneapolis, as Mike Conley shipped off to Utah and D’Angelo Russell returned to LA. The Timberwolves were a game above .500 when they made the trades, and since then they have just about kept the same pace. They ended the season two games over .500 and got the 8 seed in a tough Western Conference and are now a win away from the playoffs.
Tale of the tape
Los Angeles comes into the Play-In sixth in the league in scoring at 117.2 points per game. They were a horrific three point shooting team before the trade, but the addition of Tony Brown Jr. and Malik Beasley has given this team a new dimension. The Timberwolves are in the middle of the pack at 13th in the league in scoring at 115.8 ppg and are even farther down the table in rebounding.
LeBron leads the Lakers in scoring at 28.9 points an outing in his 20th season in the league. Anthony Davis is second with 25.9 ppg and he leads the league in rebounds with 12.5 a game. The T’Wolves are lead by Anthony Edwards who is averaging 24.6 points a game and Karl-Anthony Towns who posts 20.8 a night. Rudy Gobert is a top five rebounder in the league, but Minnesota will be without their their big man after he was suspended by his own team for the pivotal game against the Lakers on Tuesday.
Head-to-head
Minnesota leads the season series over LA 2-1 getting their first win against the Lakers in that stretch when the Lakers lost their first five games of the season. They didn’t meet again until after the trade deadline and the T’Wolves took down the new look Lakers at the beginning of March to win the season series, but in the last match up in Minnesota Davis put up 38 and 17 rebounds to give the Lakers their only win against the T’Wolves. It all comes down to Monday as the winner goes on to the playoffs as the seven seed in the West and the loser will have to take on the winner of the Pelicans vs. Thunder game.