After Game 1 on Saturday, JJ Redick didn’t have a glass of red wine in his hand as he would have if he were recording an episode of his podcast last year. He wasn’t breaking down the Xs and Os of Game 1 between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers from the outside.
He was pondering what led his team to a 117-95 loss.
“It’s not to say our guys weren’t ready to withstand a playoff-level basketball game,” Redick told the media. “We were mentally ready … I’m not sure physically we were ready … when they started playing with a lot of thrust and physicality, we didn’t respond immediately to that.”
The Timberwolves made a statement in Game 1 by flipping the underdog narrative. They came out more prepared and aggressive, establishing a mental edge early.
It was a promising way to open the playoffs, but Chris Finch didn’t overreact.
“It’s Game 1,” Finch said. “We know it’s going to be a long series. We’re not under any assumption that it’s going to be this type of game in Game 2. It’ll be a completely different game … We left a lot of meat on the bone out there; a lot of things I know we can do better.”
Both teams had two days to prepare for Game 2 on Tuesday. Minnesota was looking to get greedy. Meanwhile, the Lakers needed to respond. They needed to prove the national media right. Conversely, the Wolves needed to show that LA wasn’t as good as the media believed.
Instead, both teams proved this series will be a pitched battle. A pitched battle is a conflict in which both sides anticipate the battle setting and lock into close combat.
Luka Dončić set the tone offensively for the Lakers on Tuesday, just like in Game 1. In the first quarter of both games, he finished with 16 points on 5 of 10 from the floor and 4 of 7 from the floor, respectively. In Game 1, Minnesota played more aggressively than LA on both ends, which helped the Wolves weather Dončić’s early blows and the 37-point bomb he dropped by the end of the night.
However, the Lakers came out of the gates determined not to let that happen again.
“We had some guys play well individually, but we didn’t connect the dots very well tonight,” Finch said following Minnesota’s 97-85 loss in Game 2. “That’s what we’ve been doing so well. It was a super physical game. We knew that was coming.”
Everything the Wolves did well in Game 1, they didn’t do well in the first quarter on Tuesday.
The Lakers came out ultra-aggressive defensively, blowing up all of Minnesota’s screening situations and throwing a unique zone look when Anthony Edwards tried to drive downhill. Finch expected LA to come out more physically and liked Minnesota’s energy off the jump. However, the Wolves didn’t move the ball or play at the same pace as they did in Game 1, which didn’t allow them to find any offensive rhythm.
“I just think we were stagnant,” Julius Randle said after the game, explaining Minnesota’s slow start. “We missed some good looks; some open layups. Luka got off to another hot start … They were just kind of in a rhythm in that first quarter.”
On Saturday, the Wolves trailed by seven after the first quarter before outscoring LA 38-20 and putting their foot down for the rest of the game. On Tuesday, the Wolves trailed by 19 points after 12 minutes and shot 5 of 18 (27.8%) from the floor and 2 of 7 (28.6%) from three-point range. Crypto Arena was louder than ever in Game 1, and the Wolves desperately needed to respond.
Instead, Naz Reid picked up two fouls within less than one minute of each other, giving him three on the night and forcing Finch to sub him out.
Donte DiVincenzo was already on the bench with three fouls. Reid’s emotions were running high, corresponding with the energy building within the arena. As he walked off the court, he had some choice words for Reaves.
“We’ve got to play a smart game,” Randle said postgame regarding Minnesota’s foul trouble. “We’ve got to play physical and aggressive, but we’ve got to play smart as well, so I feel like we’ll be better next game.
Reid and DiVincenzo played a significant part in Minnesota’s Game 1 win. Reid recorded 23 points on 6 of 9 from deep. DiVincenzo only had nine points, but he shot 4 of 9 from the floor and recorded five rebounds and four assists. Those two also helped the Wolves control the pace, which Finch had mentioned was important before the series.
Reid and DiVincenzo’s absence allowed the Lakers to control the pace in the first half. However, regardless of who was playing, the Wolves never had control over the game in the first half. LA held the Timberwolves to two fastbreak points and was up 58-43 at intermission, even though the Wolves closed on a 12-5 run.
“They scored 94 points in the game, but they had 34 in the first quarter,” Randle explained postgame. “That means after that, we held them to 20 a quarter, which is who we are as a team. We just got to get off to a better start.”
After the first quarter, the Wolves outscored LA 70-60, holding them to 42% from the floor and a 95.2 offensive rating. In that same span, the Wolves shot 41% from the floor and had a 109.1 offensive rating, which is formidable. Still, Minnesota’s offensive performance remained sub-par over the final three quarters, never materializing enough to overcome the first quarter.
It was a highly physical battle until the end. Minnesota cut the deficit to nine with 3:10 remaining. Then, the Wolves turned it over three times. Randle played a great game overall, finishing with a playoff career-high 27 points. However, he got his shot blocked, and Minnesota only made one field goal.
“It’s just about us,” Nickeil Alexander-Walker said. “All season long, it’s been about us. We can give credit to, like, ‘Oh yeah, they played physical, they played hard.’ Sure, but at the end of the day, we can control our input and how we approach the game.”
The Wolves scored under 100 points for the first time since December 13 and lacked composure throughout the game. They ramped up the defensive pressure after the first quarter, holding LA to 94 points on the night on 45.3% shooting and 20.7% from three-point range. Minnesota clawed back all game and squandered its opportunity late to complete the comeback.
Still, there is reason to be optimistic heading into Game 3.
“We’ve got to be better than tonight. But it’s going to be a long series, we’ve thought [that] from the beginning,” Finch said postgame. “Just as we are good enough to win on their floor, they are good enough to win on our floor. We’ll see what Game 3 brings.”
Minnesota saw both extremes in the first two games. It shot an unreplicable 21 of 42 from deep in Game 1 and 5 of 25 from deep in Game 2, a season low in makes and attempts. The Wolves also got 43 points from their bench in Game 1 and 19 points in Game 2. They recorded 25 fastbreak points in Game 1 and six in Game 2.
“Our execution was not good,” Finch said. “They didn’t really make a ton of tactical adjustments. They just were super physical, holding on a lot of the screens, being aggressive, trying to jump out on a lot of screens, and pressuring the ball a lot more.”
Those numbers will regress closer to the mean over what both sides expect to be a long series. And once they do, the Wolves have the better team on paper.
After splitting the first two, the Wolves put themselves in a great position. Target Center will be a madhouse Friday night for Game 3, and this series is shaping up to be a fierce contest. While both sides were physical on Tuesday, it will be important for the Wolves to come out with more aggression than LA on Friday and for the whole series.
