'We'll get better.' Lakers vow to improve after blowout Game 1 loss to Timberwolves.

Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times on Apr 20, 2025

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LOS ANGELES — For 12 minutes to begin the 2025 playoffs, Luka Doncic rewarded the Lakers fans in the packed arena, showing that all the hopefulness that they entered Crypto.com Arena on Saturday wasn't just some foolish dream.

It could really happen; he's that good.

But for as much as a brilliant Doncic start can be the opening paragraphs in the story of a Lakers win, it can also be a bit of a mask. Because while Doncic got whatever he wanted, Austin Reaves struggled against Minnesota's pressure, missing easy shots at the rim and struggling to get the Lakers into offense. LeBron James, who we last saw on the court grimacing after a hip flexor strain, didn't have much burst to the basket or much touch on his shot.

And with Doncic on the bench after a 16-point first quarter, that mask came off.

The Lakers couldn't score. They couldn't match Minnesota's energy. They couldn't out-run ball movement or chase down rebounds. Opposing shooters were open. Driving lanes on the other end were closed.

And they couldn't stop an avalanche that hit them with the kind of force that knocked all the energy out of the building.

The game, which Minnesota won, 117-95, didn't end during that stretch, at least not in an official sense. But everything that followed as the Timberwolves scored 64 of the game's next 90 points should be a reminder of just how easily hopefulness can be punctured.

It wasn't that the Lakers needed less of Doncic, who glibly said "I guess I gotta pass more" when asked about his teammates' early lack of rhythm. It was that they needed to be better in the areas of the game other than the ones Doncic crafted in the first quarter.

Because while he cracked the Timberwolves' defense open, the Lakers flew around the court. The Lakers contested shots. The Lakers sprinted to secure every available possession.

It took 19 minutes of court time for the Lakers' moment — the first time they've hosted a Game 1 since 2012 — to unravel, for it fall out of reach, for the season to feel in jeopardy for the first time since well before Doncic was a part of it.

"They did all the things that we wanted to do," Reaves said of Minnesota.

The concerns for the Lakers moving forward can be found all over the final box score, the 19-point edge in fast-break points showing how much faster Minnesota played. The 21 second-chance points the Lakers allowed showed Minnesota's determination. The 48 combined points for Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid showing how capable Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle's co-stars are.

The Lakers held Edwards to just 22 points on 22 shots. And lost. The Lakers kept Randle to 16 and Rudy Gobert to just two. And lost. The Lakers got 37 points (but only one assist) from Doncic. And lost.

"They're a great opponent. They're one of the best teams in basketball," JJ Redick said. "It's not to say our guys weren't ready to withstand a playoff-level basketball game. We were mentally ready. I thought our spirit was right. I thought even when they made runs, our huddles were great. The communication was great.

"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."

They should've known it was coming. No one has guarded the Lakers quite as well as the Timberwolves have this year. Nine times this season, the Lakers have been held to under 100 points — and, now, three of those times have been because of the Minnesota Timberwolves' defense.

"Obviously we gotta do a better job of controlling the controllables," James said after. "And I don't think we did a good enough job after the first quarter."

And while the makeup of the Lakers' roster has changed significantly in their offensive clunkers, the challenges the Timberwolves give — their size, their long arms, their quick feet and their active hands — haven't really been solved by Redick and the players.

"You know this Minnesota team, they're gonna be physical," James said. "That's what they bring to the table. Maybe it took us one playoff game to now get a feel for it and know what type of intensity, the type of physicality is gonna be brought to the game. But that's just the way they play. So we should be more than prepared for that on Tuesday night."

Maybe more force will be the difference; no one on the Lakers thought that it wouldn't. But maybe, it's even simpler than that.

"Just be physical. Play like we played in the first quarter," Doncic said. "I think when we played in the first quarter, we were at our best. Just limit their threes. Limit transition and second-chance points. And play our game."

Saturday, they squandered an opportunity to sustain things long enough to take one stop closer to their goals. And, even if there are bigger signs for concern, the focus can't change.

"You've gotta get beat four times; you've gotta win four times. So, that's the outlook," Reaves said. "We know we didn't play very well. We didn't play to our standards. And we'll get better."