With just two days to go before Game 1 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs, it’s time to take a look back at the season series between these two teams.
While the Lakers are a significantly different team than they were during their first three games versus Minnesota earlier this season, there are some things to take from those early meetings. Minnesota will present a real challenge because of its tall and strong frontline, its defense, which ranked sixth in defensive rating, and a certain superstar named Anthony Edwards.
The two teams tied the season series at two wins apiece, and each game went somewhat differently.
Oct. 22: Lakers 110, Timberwolves 103
The Lakers got off to a slow start in this game, yet they managed to establish an early lead and ended the first quarter down by just one point. They took control in the second quarter by outscoring Minnesota 33-19, and late in the period, a historic and highly anticipated moment took place.
LeBron James and his son Bronny became the first father-son duo to play in the same NBA game at the same time. The younger James played only two minutes and 41 seconds, and his father ended up with a meager 16 points, but the latter’s precious bucket list item was finally accomplished.
Anthony Davis led the way with one of his typical dominant performances — 36 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Forward Rui Hachimura added 18 points, and the Lakers ended up with a victory to open the season.
Dec. 2: Timberwolves 109, Lakers 80
This was arguably the Lakers’ worst loss of the season, and it came during arguably the darkest stretch of their season.
They shot just 40.5% from the field and went 6-of-31 from 3-point range while committing 21 turnovers. The elder James shot 4-of-16 in one of the worst performances of his life, and by scoring 10 points, he just barely avoided the end of his record streak of games with double-digit points.
This was part of a stretch in which Los Angeles dropped eight of 12 games. Not coincidentally, it was during this time that the elder James played very poor basketball, which led some to speculate that perhaps he was finally declining.
Luckily, that speculation was premature.
Dec. 13: Timberwolves 97, Lakers 87
Eleven days later, the two teams met again at Target Center. The Lakers had shown a bit of progress toward ending their ugly slide, but it wasn’t over yet.
The elder James didn’t play due to foot soreness, and without him, they again committed over 20 turnovers while making just 38.4% of their field-goal attempts.
Feb. 27: Lakers 111, Timberwolves 102
By now, everything had changed for the Lakers. Luka Doncic was starting to get acclimated with them, and while their offense was sputtering a bit, their defense was in the midst of a hot streak. Edwards was held to 18 points, while the elder James scored 33 points to go along with 17 rebounds and six assists.
Doncic shot just 6-of-20 from the field, but he contributed 13 rebounds and five assists, and Austin Reaves scored 23 points. Los Angeles came out and jumped out on the Timberwolves to the tune of a 33-17 lead at the end of the first quarter, and it never looked back. It turned out to be the fourth win in an eight-game winning streak for L.A.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: A look at the season series between the Lakers and the Timberwolves
With just two days to go before Game 1 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs, it’s time to take a look back at the season series between these two teams.
While the Lakers are a significantly different team than they were during their first three games versus Minnesota earlier this season, there are some things to take from those early meetings. Minnesota will present a real challenge because of its tall and strong frontline, its defense, which ranked sixth in defensive rating, and a certain superstar named Anthony Edwards.
The two teams tied the season series at two wins apiece, and each game went somewhat differently.
Oct. 22: Lakers 110, Timberwolves 103
The Lakers got off to a slow start in this game, yet they managed to establish an early lead and ended the first quarter down by just one point. They took control in the second quarter by outscoring Minnesota 33-19, and late in the period, a historic and highly anticipated moment took place.
LeBron James and his son Bronny became the first father-son duo to play in the same NBA game at the same time. The younger James played only two minutes and 41 seconds, and his father ended up with a meager 16 points, but the latter’s precious bucket list item was finally accomplished.
Anthony Davis led the way with one of his typical dominant performances — 36 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Forward Rui Hachimura added 18 points, and the Lakers ended up with a victory to open the season.
Dec. 2: Timberwolves 109, Lakers 80
This was arguably the Lakers’ worst loss of the season, and it came during arguably the darkest stretch of their season.
They shot just 40.5% from the field and went 6-of-31 from 3-point range while committing 21 turnovers. The elder James shot 4-of-16 in one of the worst performances of his life, and by scoring 10 points, he just barely avoided the end of his record streak of games with double-digit points.
This was part of a stretch in which Los Angeles dropped eight of 12 games. Not coincidentally, it was during this time that the elder James played very poor basketball, which led some to speculate that perhaps he was finally declining.
Luckily, that speculation was premature.
Dec. 13: Timberwolves 97, Lakers 87
Eleven days later, the two teams met again at Target Center. The Lakers had shown a bit of progress toward ending their ugly slide, but it wasn’t over yet.
The elder James didn’t play due to foot soreness, and without him, they again committed over 20 turnovers while making just 38.4% of their field-goal attempts.
Feb. 27: Lakers 111, Timberwolves 102
By now, everything had changed for the Lakers. Luka Doncic was starting to get acclimated with them, and while their offense was sputtering a bit, their defense was in the midst of a hot streak. Edwards was held to 18 points, while the elder James scored 33 points to go along with 17 rebounds and six assists.
Doncic shot just 6-of-20 from the field, but he contributed 13 rebounds and five assists, and Austin Reaves scored 23 points. Los Angeles came out and jumped out on the Timberwolves to the tune of a 33-17 lead at the end of the first quarter, and it never looked back. It turned out to be the fourth win in an eight-game winning streak for L.A.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: A look at the season series between the Lakers and the Timberwolves
