Lakers: Timberwolves squeak by with fourth quarter rally

A Thaddeus Young free throw gave the Minnesota Timberwolves the lead with just under three seconds left to down the Los Angeles Lakers 120-119. Kobe Bryant had a chance to win it with a three-pointer at the buzzer, but came up short, sending the Lakers to their 13th loss of the season.

Bryant got the Lakers off to a hot start in the first quarter. The Black Mamba finished with 12 points on an efficient 5-7 shooting, including a handful of highlight moves including a steal, crossover, and dunk on the fastbreak. He would finish the night with a team-high 26 points on 10 of 18 shooting.  An active Jeremy Lin aided the cause, setting up teammates and finishing himself.

Lin continued his nice play into the second quarter, getting to the rim and scoring as well as dishing to his big men as well, and even knocking down some long range shot. He exploited the lack of a point guard for the Timberwolves, who were missing Ricky Rubio to injury and were forced to use combo guard Zach Lavine for most the night.

Lavine himself had a career night in the first half alone, pouring in 18 points on 7 of 8 shooting against the subpar Lakers defense. Lin did his best to answer, finishing with 9 points and 4 assists through the first two frames. Wesley Johnson, the former Timberwolves draft pick, used some hot shooting from deep to give himself nine points on three 3-pointers in 14 first-half minutes.

The T’Wolves stormed out of the second half gates to cut the 58-54 lead to zero quite quickly, but LA answered and pushed it back to five points numerous times. The Lakers continued to extend the lead, pushing it to as many as nine at times, but each time the T’Wolves would battle back. Lin was again the catalyst of the quarter, ending the third with a double-double at 18 points and 10 assists.

Defense was not the name of the game, though, as neither side could stop a nose bleed, LA taking a 96-93 lead into the fourth quarter. Despite the Wolves finally taking the lead, LA continue to fight, regaining the lead on a Johnson fast-break lay-up. The bench held the lead for the better part of the first half of the final frame before the starters checked in.

But it was Swaggy P who made the big plays down the stretch. After struggling not only through the game but the previous handful of games, he came alive in the fourth quarter, hitting threes, pull-ups, and multiple dunks, totaling 13 points in the final frame.

Still, a 12-2 run by the Wolves led to them taking the lead that lead in the fourth. Bryant answered with a pull-up jumper with 20 seconds left to tie the game, setting up the final plays of the night.

The Lakers will next be in action on Friday when they face the Toronto Raptors.