Minnesota winter professional sports teams make their postseason debuts this weekend. Both the Wild and the Timberwolves are in action out west.
The Timberwolves have lost only four games since March began, which helped to avoid the NBA's play-in tournament. Their reward? A round one matchup against LeBron, Luka, and the Los Angeles Lakers.
"You know, we've watched film, what you have to take away, and there's certain guys that no matter what you throw out on there, they're that good that they'll find different ways to be effective during the game." says the Wolves Donte DiVincenzo. "So for us, it's just to stay with it, follow our game plan, be very disciplined and stay together."
The teams tied during the season series 2-2, but neither team is the same now as it was in November. The Wolves took some time to gel after an offseason trade that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to New York in return for DiVencenzo and forward Julius Randle.
For the Lakers, a midseason trade brought Luka Doncic from Dallas to LA, and turned the Lakers from playoff contenders - to a playoff favorite. But Doncic sees danger in these Wolves. It was Doncic that dashed title hopes for the Wolves last year when his Dallas Mavericks knocked them out in the Western Conference Finals.
"I haven't had many games I watch, but obviously they are the two guys that can really play," Doncic said. "They have ANT, they have a lot of guys that can play, a lot of guys that can guard, so they're very, very interesting."
The Wolves will have their hands full on defense with LeBron James and Doncic, but it's the Laker defense head coach Chris Finch is thinking about.
"We've kind of looked at their defense and tried to expect them to play somewhat within the personality of their defense," says Finch. "And the things that we've seen them do against some of the guys who comp some of our guys. So you know, that's all you can do at this point in time."
Minnesota Timberwolves (49-33, sixth in the Western Conference) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (50-32, third in the Western Conference)
Story line: LeBron James and Luka Doncic, together in the playoffs for the first time. Will it be enough? The Lakers won the title in 2020 and have won only two series since then, getting ousted by Denver in 2023 and 2024 — and now having to face the team that went into Denver and won a Game 7 to end the Nuggets’ reign last season. The Timberwolves will rely on Anthony Edwards as always, and he’s shown in previous playoff runs (and last summer with USA Basketball) that he isn’t afraid of the moment.
Key matchup: The Timberwolves’ size vs. the 1-2 punch of James and Doncic. Do the Lakers have an answer for the waves of bigs — Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle, Naz Reid, etc. — inside? No. Do the Timberwolves have a way to stop both James and Doncic? Of course not, because nobody does. The team that exploits its clear advantages the most wins the series.
AP Prediction: Lakers in 7.
Los Angeles; Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Lakers -4; over/under is 216.5
WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Lakers host first series matchup
BOTTOM LINE: The Los Angeles Lakers host the Minnesota Timberwolves to start the Western Conference first round. Los Angeles and Minnesota tied the regular season series 0-0.
The Lakers are 36-16 in Western Conference games. Los Angeles has a 4-6 record in one-possession games.
The Timberwolves are 33-19 against conference opponents. Minnesota averages 114.3 points and has outscored opponents by 5.0 points per game.
The Lakers’ 13.3 made 3-pointers per game this season are just 0.6 more made shots on average than the 12.7 per game the Timberwolves allow. The Timberwolves average 15.0 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.4 more made shots on average than the 13.6 per game the Lakers allow.
TOP PERFORMERS: Luka Doncic is scoring 28.2 points per game and averaging 8.2 rebounds for the Lakers. Austin Reaves is averaging 21.2 points and 4.3 rebounds over the last 10 games.
Julius Randle is averaging 18.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists for the Timberwolves. Anthony Edwards is averaging 28.2 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 48.5% over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Lakers: 6-4, averaging 117.4 points, 41.3 rebounds, 24.8 assists, 8.0 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 48.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 112.5 points per game.
Timberwolves: 8-2, averaging 118.6 points, 47.6 rebounds, 26.9 assists, 6.0 steals and 5.5 blocks per game while shooting 49.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 110.1 points.
INJURIES: Lakers: Rui Hachimura: day to day (knee), Maxi Kleber: out (foot).
Timberwolves: None listed.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.