Timberwolves 85 vs 94 Lakers Game 2 live: stats, scores and highlights | NBA Playoffs

Luka had a huge game on Tuesday night. He doesn't mind taking the stage and leading the show, but he knows it's going to take everyone on the team to beat this T'Wolves team. The defense was great. The physicality seemed to take Minnesota by surprise and the series is all tied up as the Lakers hit the road for Game 3 and 4. 

The Lakers lost just 10 games at home all season. They lost their opener in the playoffs and needed this game tonight. They came out serious in the first half and did enough in the second half to hold off any run from the T'Wolves that would have made for a tight finish. 

Now the series heads north for the next two games. Minnesota will be looking to bounce back in Game 3, while the Lakers will be hoping to get home court advantage back with a win on Friday night. 

LeBron is taking a secondary role to Luka in this series, at least for the first two games, but James came in late and had some big plays on both ends to close out any ideas the T'Wolves had of a comeback. He ended the night with 21, 11 and 7. Not bad for the secondary option for LA. 

The game got ugly in the second half. There were a lot of missed shots close to the bucket. There were a handful of challenges that interrupted the game but that seemed to benefit MIN. They cut the lead to double digits after trailing by 20 for most of the night. 

Anthony Edwards and the T'Wolves took too long to turn on the offense. They came out flat in the first half after getting the series opener in LA. The intensity turned up in the second half after ANT opened the third quarter with this monster slam. 

Luka was in the zone all night. He was doing a little bit of everything and came up just short of a triple double. He had 9 assists on the night, but none were prettier than this one. 

Anytime Luka saw Gobert come out to the perimeter and guard him, he locked in and put on a show. Those two have history, and Luka made it look like it was personal whenever the multiple time Defensive Player of the Year was playing defense on him. 

Austin Reaves was red hot to end the season, posting 30 point games after 30 point games. His numbers haven't been great in the first two games of the series, but he did go for 16 on 7/14 field goals. 

Luka had 16 of the 34 points for the Lakers in the first quarter while the Lakers defense came out and held Minnesota to just 15 through the first 12 minutes of the game. 

The Los Angeles Lakers needed a win in Game 2 against the Minnesota Timberwolves and they got it at home to even up the first round series at 1-1. Luka Doncic had 31, 12 and 9 to lead the Lakers in the must win game from Crypto.com Arena. 

Just like in Game 1, Luka Doncic came out hot in the first quarter. He set the tone, but unlike Game 1, LeBron scored in the first quarter. Everyone chipped in for LA in Game 2, but the story of the night was the Lakers defense. 

IT'S ALL OVER FROM LA!!!

The Lakers even up the series after getting out early and staying ahead the rest of the way. It's 1-1 heading back to Minnesota. 

Edwards with an open path to the rack and he slams it home. 

Doncic just put the nail in the coffin with a lay up down the lane. 

Reid to the line after the foul on Reaves and he hits both FTs with 1:07 to go in the 4th quarter. 

LeBron picks off the pass from Edwards and takes it all the way to the cup for the lay up. 

Reid floats it up and in with a leaner in the lane. 

Timeout LA with 3:09 to go in the 4th quarter! MIN is a little run away from making the end of this game very interesting. 

Randle to the line after the foul on LeBron and he hits both FTs.

Reaves takes Gobert off the dribble and lays it up and in off the glass. 

LeBron ends a run of five minutes with no FGs with a lay up off the feed from Reaves. 

McDaniels with the offensive board and the put back while falling to the floor! It's a single digit game with 6:16 to go!!

Timeout Lakers!

Open three from the top of the key and Randle strokes it! It's an 11 point game. 

MIN is hit with a delay of game penalty and Doncic hits the technical FT. 

Alexander-Walker with the lay up off the inbound from underneath. 

LeBron to the line after the foul on Reid and he hits both FTs. 

Reid spins in the lane and tries the floater that Hayes spiked to half court but a goal tend is going to be called. 

Reid in the corner and he hits the three ball! He's been much more quiet than last game. 

Reaves with a tough fader to start the fourth quarter!

WE ARE AT THE END OF THE 3RD QUARTER WITH THE LAKERS KEEPING HOLD OF THEIR DOUBLE DIGIT LEAD!!!

Edwards to the line after the foul on Hachimura and he hits both FTs. 

Reaves jets to the cup and he hits the off balanced lay up in traffic. 

Edwards driving to the cup and he lays it up and in over Reaves. 

Doncic down the lane and he lobs it up for Hachimura for the alley oop slam. 

DiVincenzo running the break and Alexander-Walker finds him for the lay up. 

DiVincenzo over the top for Gobert on the alley oop. 

Hachimura off the dribble and he hits the FT line jumper. 

The call is overturned and Randle's foul is taken off the board. Jump ball to come after the timeout. 

Randle was called for a foul on a Reaves lay up, and the T'Wolves are going to challenge with 2:48 to go in the 3rd. 

The call is reversed, so the Randle bucket counts and he goes to the line and makes the FT. 

Randle was called for an offensive foul, but the T'Wolves are going to challenge to see if Luka had his feet set.

Timeout with 3:04 to go in the 3rd quarter. 

Doncic fires a pass down the lane to Hachimura who lays it up with two hands. 

Randle to the line after the foul on Doncic and he hits one of two FTs. 

Luka to the rack and he scoops it up and in off the glass. 

Randle picks up his dribble under the basket and reverses it up and in. 

McDaniels sends Luka to the FT line where he hits both FTs and the lead is back to 20. 

LeBron grabs the offensive board over Edwards and puts it back off the miss from Finney-Smith. 

Timeout MIN with 6:00 to go in the third quarter. 

Finney-Smith jacks a three ball off the feed from Doncic and he hits it from the wing!

Luka with a bank shot from a tough angle for his first points of the second half. 

Timeout Lakers with 7:40 to go in the 3rd quarter. 

Edwards puts it on the deck and he gets the off balance lay up to go! He's got 19, and it's just an 11 point game all of the sudden. 

Edwards with a quick trigger from the wing and he strokes it! 

Reaves with the fader in the lane over Gobert and he had to use the bank to find that angle over the big man. 

Randle to the line after the foul on Hayes and he hits one of two FTs. 

Reaves fouled by Edwards and he hits both FTs. 

Edwards starts the half with a BIG TIME SLAM over the top of Hayes!!!

WE ARE BACK IN LA FOR THE SECOND HALF OF ACTION!!!

Luka was doing a little bit of everything, and that's why the Lakers are up 15. What LA did best was lock down on defense. The Timberwolves started seeing some shots drop at the end of the half. Let's see if that carries over to the 2nd half. 

Every time LUka saw Gobert come out to the perimeter and try and guard him, it was showtime. No one has been able to stop Luka so far, not even the multiple time DPOY. 

The lead ballooned up to 22 at one point and it wasn't just just Luka and LeBron. Reaves was quiet in Game 1, he's got 6 points tonight, but he's getting his shots up. He's 3/8 from the field. 

He's got style, but he doesn't quite have Steph style. He's got 22 at the half and has 5 rebounds and 5 assists after the first half. 

Like in Game 1, Luka came out red hot to start the game. The only difference was he wasn't the only one that was making buckets to start Game 2. He had 16 points in the first quarter while the T'Wolves scored just 15. 

WE ARE AT THE END OF THE FIRST HALF WITH THE LAKERS UP BY 15!!!

It's been all LA so far in Game 2. Can they hold on to even up the series or will MIN comeback and take a 2-0 lead back to Target Center?

Edwards off the dribble and he soars to the cup for the finger roll. 

LeBron finds Hachimura on the baseline and he gets the bucket down low and the foul! FT is good. 

Reaves sends Alexander-Walker to the line where he hits both FTs. 

Reaves off the curl and he hits the floater in the paint over Gobert. 

Gobert picks off the pass from Hachimura and takes it all the way for the steal and score. 

Gobert to the line after the foul on James and he hits both FTs. 

Timeout T'Wolves with 2:36 to go in the 2nd quarter. 

Edwards with the off balance floater, and he's got 10 on the night. He's going to have to get into take over mode soon for MIN. 

Edwards slices down the lane and gets the lay up to go with the left hand. 

Finney-Smith cut baseline and Doncic found him for the lay up on the back door. 

Shannon dashes to the cup and hits the off balance runner. 

Luka to the line after the foul on Shannon and he hits both FTs. 

Randle euro steps through the lane and gets the lay up to fall in traffic. 

James pulls up from the mid range and hits the jumper from right outside the lane. 

McDaniels to the line after the foul on Doncic and he hits both FTs. 

Timeout from LA with 6:54 to go in the half. 

Luka going up and under Gobert on the baseline and every time he sees Gobert he goes right at him. 

Randle backing into the lane and he gets the rolls on a floater in the lane. He's got 13 o lead MIN. 

Luka stops on a dime in the lane and hits a high arching mid range jumper. He's got 18 on the night. 

Randle to the line after the foul on LeBron and he hits both FTs. 

LeBron pulls the trigger from deep and nails the three ball from the top of the key!!! The lead is up to 22 and it's all LA four minutes into the 2nd quarter. 

LeBron to the line after the foul on Randle and he hits both FTs. 

Randle backing down and he gets the short jumper to fall from outside the lane. 

LeBron pulls up over Reid and hits the mid range jumper from the wing. 

Reid just picked his third foul, and that's a huge blow to MIN. 

Reaves behind the back in the lane and he hits the mini fader. 

McDaniels follows up his own missed lay up and tips it in. 

Randle blows by James and lays it up and in off the glass to start the second quarter. 

THE LAKERS CAME OUT MEANING BUSINESS IN THE FIRST QUARTER!!!

They held the T'Wolves to just 15 points while Luka put up 16 all on his own. 

The call was overturned, so DiVincenzo gets called for the foul and LA get the ball. 

Vincent drills a three ball from the top of the key and what a swing that was after the challenge!!!

Timeout LA with 29.2 to go in the 1st quarter. They are going to challenge the foul call on Vanderbilt after seeing an elbow come up and hit the chin of the Lakers player. 

Edwards splits a couple of defenders in the lane and finger rolls it home in traffic. 

Luka to the line after the foul on Reid and he hits both FTs. 

LeBron running the break and he slips it off to Finney-Smith for the transition lay up. 

Reaves banging down low and he gets the lay up to fall from a tight angle. 

ANT with the dribble and pull up from the wing from downtown to break a spell of over 4 minutes without a FG. 

Extra pass from Reaves to Luka and he strings the wide open three! He's outscoring the T'Wolves 14-10 in the first quarter!!!

Timeout T'Wolves with 3:17 to go in the first. 

LeBron spots up from the top of the key and hits the deep two over Reid. 

Reaves sends DiVencenzo to the line and he hits both FTs. 

Luka takes Randle for a ride and lays it up down the lane. He's got 11 to start the night. 

Vincent off the bench and he comes up with the steal on one end and jacks a transition three from the corner on the other. 

Luka to the line after the foul on Gobert and he hits both FTs out of the timeout. 

Timeout from LA with 6:41 to go in the 1st quarter. 

Randle steps back from the top of the key and hits the three over LeBron!

Luka in the lane and he fades away from the defense for the short shot in the paint. 

Edwards to the line after the foul on Hayes and he hits one of two FTs. 

Luka to the line after the foul on DiVencenzo and he hits both FTs. 

Hachimura to the line after the foul on Randle and he hits both FTs. 

Doncic with the lob down low to LeBron who put it in between traffic. 

Doncic pulls the trigger from the top of the key and banks home a three ball!

Randle opens his account with a drive past Hachimura and a lay up off the glass. 

LeBron down the lane and over the top for Hayes who slams it down on the alley oop. 

McDaniels starts us off with a mid range jumper, and the T'Wolves would love to see him have another huge night. 

WE ARE UNDERWAY FROM LA!!!

T'Wolves starters 

The T'Wolves got a lot of help off the bench last game but they are going to need their starters to set the tone. It's Conley, ANT, McDaniels, Randle and Gobert to begin the night in LA. 

Lakers starters

The Lakers are going with their same first five as they had in Game 1. Luka came out quick last game, but he needs to see LeBron, Hachimura, Reaves and Hayes to keep up with him from the starting gate. 

Nico’s comment on Luka trade

The Dallas Mavericks season is over, but that didn’t stop Nico Harrison from fueling the fire that has already been raging in Dallas since the Luka trade back in early February. Since then things have gone south for Harrison and the Mavs who were just knocked out of the Play In last week. Harrison gave a press conference after the season which isn’t going to win him too many fans in Dallas. He talked about not knowing how important Luka was to the franchise, the city and the fan base. Then went on to defend himself saying that he thinks he’s done a good job in Dallas, and he shouldn’t be judged by the injury problems that the Mavs went through over the final stretch of the season. Either way, Harrison has to be crossing his fingers that the Timberwolves can take care of business, because the longer Luka wins in LA, the bigger the fire will get in Dallas. 

ANT after Game 1

We all know that Anthony Edwards is the engine of this team. When he is rolling the team is rolling, but after Game 1 in LA, he called Jaden McDaniels the MVP of the night, and he wasn’t wrong. ANT is always going to come out and play like the player we have grown accustomed to seeing, but he wants to bring out the best in his teammates, and that is unique for a super star in this league. After the game he gave a postgame interview saying just that. This is the kind of selfless attitude that teams need to be a real title contender. 

Showdown on the sidelines 

We see it so often in the playoffs. Experience matters. No matter if you are are player or a coach, the more playoff experience you have the more you are ready for a seven game series. That could come into play in this first round match up. JJ Redick did a great job in his first year as a coach in the NBA. He managed the Bronny James situation like an experienced vet, and incorporated Luka Doncic flawlessly after the trade. Now he faces his toughest test, a Timberwolves team that gave them all sorts of problems in Game 1, and a coach that has load more playoff experience than the rookie coach does. 

Injury report: Lakers

The Lakers are in the same boat as the T’Wolves when it comes to the injury front. Maxi Kleber is out, but he has yet to debut for LA since getting traded from Dallas with Luka and Morris. They have a full squad available tonight for Game 2 against the Timberwolves and they are going to need it. LA isn’t the deepest team coming into the playoffs, but at least JJ Redick is going to have plenty of options to dig deep down the bench should he need to. 

Injury report: T’Wolves

If you haven’t figured it out by now, the Timberwolves have a deadly combination of size, speed and strength. To make matters even worse for the Lakers the T’Wolves have almost all hands on deck for Game 2. Rob Dillingham is out with a sprained ankle, but he is the only one listed on the injury report. He played just 10 minutes per game in the 49 games he played, and averaged 4.5 points an outing. 

Size and strength of T’Wolves

Is it possible that we overlooked the T’Wolves just because they were a 6 seed coming into the playoffs this year? After making a run to the Western Conference Final last year, they made some changes to the roster, namely swapping Karl Anthony-Towns for Julius Randle and it took a little while to get the wheels off the ground in Minnesota. The core of the team is the same as last year. They are big, long, fast and strong. That doesn’t bode well for LA who are led by a 40 year old and a super star whose biggest criticism is his match fitness. This team swept the then defending champion Denver Nuggets last year and if they win tonight, they could be looking at another shock sweep. 

Lakers at home

Watching the Lakers lose at home isn’t something that the star studded crowd at Crypto.com Arena is used to. Over the course of the regular season they lost just 10 games under their own roof, and lost back to back games at home just twice during the campaign. Their Game 1 loss didn’t just shock fans in LA and experts around the league. The loss puts them in a must win situation before they head to Minnesota for the next two games. 

Star watch: T’Wolves 

Anthony Edwards did everything that neither LeBron nor Luka did in Game 1. The 23 year old superstar came out pulling the strings on the offensive end and getting the rest of his team going before he started to take over. He average 27.6 points a game in the regular season and can drop 30 at will, but his coach Chris Finch said after the win on Saturday night that he prefers when Edwards flirts with a triple double as opposed to him going for 30, 40 or 50 points. The Lakers will have some defensive adjustments but the T’Wolves face of the franchise will be ready for whatever they throw at him. 

Star watch: Lakers 

We saw Luka have a big night scoring on Saturday night, but him posting 30+ isn’t going to be enough. LeBron is going to have to take this game over if the Lakers are going to win the series. James didn’t have a point or an assists in the first quarter of Game 1 and took too long to get involved in the game. Luka is still going to have the ball in his hands, and run the show, but LeBron and Austin Reaves have to make more of an impact out of the gate. That will open up space on the floor against this overly aggressive defense of the Minnesota Timberwolves. It might be the second game of round one, but this is about as much of a must win as it gets for the Lakers who can’t go to Minnesota down 0-2. 

Game 1 recap 

Luka Doncic came out red hot in his playoff debut in Lakers gold and purple, scoring 16 of LA’s 28 points and the Lakers led by 7 after the first quarter. Minnesota absorbed the early blow and went on a 26-6 run thanks to some fantastic three point shooting from the T’Wolves that lasted the entire night. Minnesota shot 51.2% from the field and hit 14 of their 28 threes in a night that they led by as many as 27 points. Luka Doncic had 37 points, but had just 1 assists on a night that LeBron scored just 19 but that was far from enough to keep pace with the sharp shooting T’Wolves that were led by Jaden McDaniels who had 25 and Anthony Edwards flirted with a triple double posting 22, 8 and 9 in the Game 1 win. 

We are live from Crypto.com Arena

Hello everyone and welcome to LA where the Lakers should be a little worried after their Game 1 performance. They didn’t have many answers for the lock down defense, and the multifaceted scoring attack from the lengthy, pesky Timberwolves. The T’Wolves have a chance to take a commanding 2-0 lead back to Minnesota, but the Lakers know if they allow that to happen on their home court, the seemingly harmonious pairing of Luka and LeBron could be called in to question. LA have two of the best players in the league, and it’s time for them to show that they are ready to make a title run. The best young player in the league, Anthony Edwards, is ready to lead his guys to another road win against a Lakers team that isn’t used to losing under their own roof. 

T’Wolves vs. Lakers live  

It’s Game 2 from LA and the home side are in a bit of a predicament after getting handled in the series opener. The star studded roster wasn’t enough to counteract the youthful enthusiasm of the visitors on Saturday night and now the Los Angeles Lakers need a win to level the series against a Minnesota Timberwolves team that looked, bigger, stronger and better in Game 1. AS English will be with you all night providing live coverage, stats, highlights and analysis of tonight’s game from Crypto.com Arena.