LOS ANGELES — Anthony Edwards was not at all surprised when the Minnesota Timberwolves showed enough talent and togetherness to turn Luka Doncic‘s playoff debut with the Los Angeles Lakers into a rout for the visitors.
Jaden McDaniels scored 25 points, Naz Reid added 23 with six 3-pointers and the Timberwolves overcame Doncic’s 37-point effort for a 117-95 Game 1 victory Saturday night.
Edwards had 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in the first-round series opener for the sixth-seeded Wolves, who have won 18 of their past 22 games.
“I got a great group of guys,” Edwards said. “But it wasn’t tonight; I learned that in training camp. It just takes a minute for us to jell as a new team. It just took a minute for us to figure each other out, and I feel like now we just go.”
The Timberwolves weathered Doncic’s 16-point first quarter in front of a roaring home crowd before taking control with a 38-20 second quarter.
Minnesota poured it on after halftime too. Julius Randle and Edwards hit four 3-pointers apiece as the Timberwolves made a franchise playoff-record 21 3-pointers on 42 attempts — with many of those shots taken without a defender in sight.
“It means Game 1,” Minnesota coach Chris 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 got a lot left. A lot of meat on the bone out there. A lot of things. I know we can do better.”
LeBron James had 19 points to begin his 18th NBA postseason, but the third-seeded Lakers were overwhelmed by the Wolves’ shotmaking and playoff poise. Minnesota shot 74% off passes (29-for-39), the highest mark by any team in a playoff game in the past decade.
“I think once we got settled, we were able to get a lot of the second side actions going and Julius was able to create for us,” Reid said. “We hit shots. I think we got in the glass a lot. I think we just bought a lot of intensity and effort, as well.”
While Los Angeles is still searching for chemistry after acquiring Doncic two months ago, Minnesota is eager to improve on last season’s run to the Western Conference finals.
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is scheduled for Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.
