The Los Angeles Lakers did not look good in their first postseason game this past weekend. At all.
The Minnesota Timberwolves cruised to a 117-95 rout at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday night in Game 1 of their opening-round playoff series, and did so without much issue whatsoever. The issue, head coach JJ Redick said on Monday, was relatively simple.
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But it wasn’t just that they weren’t calling the right plays or didn’t know what was coming their way from the Timberwolves, he explained. They had organizational issues across the board, which sounds like it comes down to mental errors.
“Our early offense stuff, like any team’s, it’s the same s**t,” Redick said. “It’s remarkable how many possessions we had four guys, three, four guys at halfcourt with 15 on the [shot] clock. Like literally just bunched up together at half court. So that’s what it means to be organized.”
A few days removed from that loss, Redick’s comments are a bit different than the ones he made right after the game on Saturday.
“The communication was great,” he said, in part. “I’m not sure physically we were ready, if that makes sense. And really, when they started playing with a lot of thrust and physicality, we just didn’t respond to meet that.”
Regardless of whether it was mental, organizational mistakes, physical issues or some combination, the Timberwolves absolutely dominated the Lakers. They shot 50% from the 3-point line as a team and set a franchise postseason record with 21 made buckets from behind the arc. Jaden McDaniels had 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting, and Anthony Edwards was just shy of a triple-double with 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
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Luka Dončić was about the lone bright spot for the Lakers in Game 1. He had 37 points, 16 of which came in the opening quarter, and eight rebounds while shooting 5-of-10 from the 3-point line. But the Lakers had just 15 assists as a team, only one of which came from Dončić, and LeBron James was held scoreless until midway through the second quarter. Austin Reaves shot just 5-of-13 from the field, too.
Game 2 of the series is set for Tuesday night in Los Angeles, where the Timberwolves will try to go up 2-0 before the series shifts to Minneapolis. Redick said on Monday that he felt the Lakers had their best practice in months and “worked up a good lather.”
Whether that translates into better organization on the court come Tuesday night remains to be seen. Regardless, if the Lakers don’t respond immediately, they might be looking at another first-round playoff exit for a second year in a row.
