Minnesota Timberwolves @ Los Angeles Lakers
Saturday, April 19, 2025 at 8:30 PM ET
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA | Game ID: 42400161
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
LAL 28 20 30 17 95MIN 21 38 35 23 117
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Timberwolves rout Lakers 117-95 in 1st-round series opener, overcoming Luka Doncic's 37 points
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 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 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 last 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 gel 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 LA crowd before taking control with a 38-20 second quarter.
They 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' shot-making and playoff poise.
“This Minnesota team, they’re going to be physical,” James said. “That’s what they bring to the table. It took us one game ... (to) understand that. They took homecourt advantage from us tonight, but we have to control the controllables, and if we do that, we’ll have a much better chance to win than we did tonight.”
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 Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
One day after the Dallas Mavericks’ season ended in the Play-In Tournament, Doncic produced the 11th-highest scoring playoff game of his career — and it wasn’t nearly enough, thanks to the Timberwolves’ prolific team effort.
“I think the first quarter, we played the way we play,” Doncic said. “I think we played physical. Everyone was locked in, and then we just kind of let go of the rope. So we’ve got to be way more physical.”
MIN KarmaHide StintsShow StintsHide PMShow PMHide KarmaShow KarmaHide ScoresShow Scores
Who
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
LALAL A. Len
AR A. Reaves
BJ B. James
DF D. Finney-Smith
DK D. Knecht
DO Doncic
GV G. Vincent
JG J. Goodwin
JH J. Hayes
JV J. Vanderbilt
LD L. Dončić
LJ L. James
RH R. Hachimura
SM S. Milton
MINAE A. Edwards
DD D. DiVincenzo
JC J. Clark
JM J. McDaniels
JM J. Minott
JR J. Randle
LG L. Garza
LM L. Miller
MC M. Conley
NA N. Alexander-Walker
NR N. Reid
RG R. Gobert
TS T. Shannon Jr.
LAL/MIN the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur