The Los Angeles Lakers had aspirations to win the NBA Finals. That was the intention ever since they acquired Luka Doncic in a blockbuster trade with the Dallas Mavericks. Apparently, the Minnesota Timberwolves did not get the memo.
On Wednesday night at Los Angeles’s Crypto.com Arena, the Lakers were eliminated from the postseason as they were beaten 103-96. The opening round series only took five games to complete before Los Angeles’s season was over.
In game five, we saw a miraculous game offensively and defensively from Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert of Saint-Quentin, France. He led the Timberwolves with 27 points and 24 rebounds. Of the 24 rebounds were 15 defensive rebounds. Gobert was also a +18.
Gobert’s 24 rebounds were the most by a Timberwolves player in franchise history for a playoff game. The previous record was 22 set by Kevin Garnett of Greenville, South Carolina, in a 95-81 Timberwolves win over the Denver Nuggets on April 21, 2004 in game five of the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
The Timberwolves also won because you can definitely make the argument that Minnesota’s two best players (Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle) made less mistakes than the Lakers’s top two players (LeBron James and Doncic). Edwards and Randle combined for 19 turnovers, while James and Doncic combined for 33 turnovers.
Minnesota is one of five NBA franchises that have advanced to the second round. They are joined by the Oklahoma City Thunder, Indiana Pacers, Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers. On Tuesday, the Celtics clobbered the Orlando Magic 120-89 to win their first round playoff series four games to one.
