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When Luka Doncic scored 16 points in the first quarter of his playoff debut with his new team, the Los Angeles Lakers Downtown Arena was caught in excitement from fans who imagined the dream scenario of the team this spring and its new superstars.
The Timberwolves confirmed that their dreams were ug very quickly in Game 1. They also left the Lakers looking for a way to help Don Sic before Minnesota escaped in this first-round series.
Donsic scored 37 points and eight rebounds, but was not enough to compete with the Wolves’ balanced score in a 117-95 victory on Saturday night.
After an impressive start from the Slovenian superstar, the Lakers were comprehensively embarrassed in Game 1 of their first postseason before a full-home arena since 2012. Los Angeles did not demonstrate the toughness needed to stick to physical veteran wolves and defense.
The combination brought a 27-point deficit in the second half and a wolf’s victory laugh. The Wolves quickly seized home court advantage in the series after finishing one win behind the Lakers in the regular season.
“They’re great opponents,” JJ Reddick said after losing his playoff coaching debut. “They are one of the best teams in basketball, and I’m not saying that our peers aren’t ready to endure playoff-level basketball. We were mentally prepared, so we thought our spirit was right.
Minnesota’s excellent physicality was evident in the long stretches, even when Rudy Goat, who only played 24 minutes, was playing. However, the wolves took control and kept it mainly because they hit 21 3-pointers on 42 attempts.
The Lakers lacked the dominant big man after trading Anthony Davis, and Jaden McDaniels took advantage of it while scoring 25 points. But it doesn’t explain the Lakers’ insufficient efforts at the boundary where there are enough athletes to protect most teams competently when they put in effort.
“I think it was physical (and) they were hitting a lot of three,” Donsic said. “We need to limit their three, especially the lasers. We weren’t physical. They were running. They were getting whatever they wanted.
Donsic knew that despite his flashy points total, he personally fits him with an offensive ending.
LeBron James also got off to an impressive start to the 18th NBA postseason, scoring 19 points on three-point attempts, generating only three assists and five rebounds in 36 minutes.
James, 40, couldn’t shake up with a single loss, and he focused on clear areas for improvements in Game 2 on Tuesday. He especially lamented the Lakers’ transition defense, allowing 25 fast points.
“Throughout the whole season, we did an incredible job of ensuring our teams get fast breakpoints after fast breakpoints,” James said. “We already know how dangerous they are, so it’s going to be difficult to make up for that by giving the team the opportunity to get those simple points.”
The Lakers crowd remained in the game all night, but the massive late deficit clearly thwarted excitement. Minnesota star Anthony Edwards wasn’t exactly free about the crowd after the wolves got the victory.
“It’s like this, that’s easy for me,” Edwards said. “I played for Denver, and Denver is a difficult place to play on the road, meaning there was nothing.”
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
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