Los Angeles Lakers: Late surge not enough against Timberwolves

The Los Angeles Lakers made it interesting late, but did not enough to take down the Minnesota  Timberwolves.

The Los Angeles Lakers had good and bad moments Monday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but giving up too many offensive rebounds and a hot fourth quarter from the Wolves doomed L.A.

Time after time Karl-Anthony Towns, Taj Gibson, and Jimmy Butler abused the Lakers on the offensive glass, bringing down a total 20 offensive rebounds, nine above their average off 11 per game. The Lakers were making a concerted effort on the boards, several occasions there were three or four Lakers in the paint, but the Timberwolves had too much size.

Another area that killed the Lakers was the free throw line. The Timberwolves shot twice as many free throws as the Lakers, 26-30 for 86 percent, Lakers, on the other hand, were 10-15  at 66 percent. A good portion of the fouls committed was the result from Minnesota attacking the offensive boards, either getting hacked by Los Angeles on the put back attempt or later in the possession.

Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma combined for 33 first-half points,  exactly half of the Lakers points 24 minutes into the game. Ingram came out on a mission, getting the ball and immediately looking to score while attacking the basket every chance he could. Kuzma caught fire in the second quarter after Ingram was pulled for foul trouble to end the half with 16 points.

LeBron James had a pretty bad first half shooting the ball, missing a few layups, and struggling to find a rhythm offensively. King James did do a fantastic job sharing the ball, coming away with six assists for the half, while also bringing in five boards.

The game fell apart in the fourth for Los Angeles, with Jimmy Butler going nuts scoring 15 of his 32 points while hitting tough shots over solid defense by Josh Hart. The Timberwolves as a team felt the heat that quarter, hitting eight of their 14 total threes in the last 12 minutes. Coming into the game Minnesota was shooting 35 percent from downtown, so capable shooters are on the roster, they just got hot at the wrong time for the Lakers.

After going on an 8-0 to come within two with just under a minute left, the Lakers could not make the right plays to close things out. One resulted in LeBron losing control of a crossover for a backcourt, the second was Kuzma jacking up a terrible contested three, which Taj Gibson blocked to all but ice the game.

Coach Luke Walton cannot be too upset about tonight’s loss though. The team played hard; the effort was there for the entire 48 minutes. If it weren’t for Butler making ridiculous shots, the Lakers could probably have pulled it out late. Still, a lot left for the Lakers to improve on, but good to see them giving 100 percent effort on both ends of the floor.

LeBron led all Lakers with 29 points, Ingram scoring 24, while Kuzma slowed down in the second half, only scoring three points after halftime. Overall six Lakers scored in double digits, getting 31 points from their bench. Lakers have a travel day before playing the Dallas Mavericks Halloween night.