The Los Angeles Lakers closed out their short road trip in Minnesota fresh off the bad news of Anthony Davis’ calf strain injury. In AD’s absence, the Lakers got plenty of help throughout the roster to fill the void!
Well, two different streaks ended between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.
- LeBron James had a two-game losing streak against the Timberwolves in Minnesota!
- Karl Anthony Towns is undefeated (7-0) against the Lakers in Minnesota!
Now that Anthony Davis will be sidelined through the All-Star break (Lake Show Life mandates longer!), the Los Angeles Lakers needed the supporting cast to play hard on both ends of the floor.
Well, they did just that following up a near triple-double performance from LeBron James beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 112-104. The Los Angeles Lakers are keeping pace with the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers at the top of the Western Conference.
The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:
LeBron James seems to be prepared to carry the scoring load!
There will be a huge void in the scoring column with Anthony Davis not in the lineup for the foreseeable future. Thankfully for the Lakers, LeBron James is already adjusting for the circumstances at hand.
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1361849098098274308
LeBron had 13 points by the end of the first quarter with silky-smooth efficiency! He was even knocking down free throws. He finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds. Plus when the young Wolves started talking…well eventually the NBA will learn to leave the man alone.
Dennis Schroder was balling!
The faithful readers of Lake Show Life will be wiping their reading glasses (Or looking to get a prescription for a pair!) reading this statement from this particular writer but it’s true. Dennis Schroder played his best stretch in the Purple and Gold in the first quarter.
He knocked down his first five shots for 10 points. He also was very active on the defensive end with two early steals. He finished with 24 points. It should have been more, but we’ll get to that in a second!
The Los Angeles Lakers shot lights out from the free-throw line!
Here’s the story of why the Lakers stayed in the game. The Lake Show knocked down 16 straight free throws before Alex Caruso missed late in the third quarter. The Lakers finished 17-21 from the line. The Lake Show can make their lives a lot easier if they can hit shots from the charity stripe.
Marc Gasol hit double figures!
Marc Gasol knocked down three 3 pointers on his way to 11 points. It’s the second time he’s hit double-figure scoring all season. The other time? The Minnesota Timberwolves earlier this season.
The bad from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:
Man, this Los Angeles Lakers team turns the ball over at a rapid rate!
It’s getting to the level of embarrassment. The Los Angeles Lakers flat-out do not take care of the basketball. They had 8 turnovers in the first quarter alone. The only reason the Lakers weren’t behind is that when they did turn it over, they hustled back on defense.
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1361853333728763905
The Lakers finished the game with 18 turnovers which will not be good enough against the better teams.
Lake Show Life would like to extend a public service announcement to the rest of the NBA. You need to dunk on these guys. Layups get thrown into the third row. You’ve been warned.
The Minnesota Timberwolves centers had plenty of early success!
There will be plenty of calls for a rim-protecting center for the next 2-3 weeks officially (Realistically 4-6 weeks!) with Anthony Davis out of the lineup. But the Wolves big men knocked down their first nine shots in the first half to give the Lakers problems.
This points basically depends on how Montrezl Harrell’s position is listed. If you list him at center (Based on ESPN’s listing he is!) the Lakers were outscored 23-13 in the first half. Knowing the readers at Lake Show Life, that is not the case for them, so the deficit was 23-3.
Frank Vogel’s rotations will irritate fans!
Remember Dennis Schroder was scorching coming out of the gate? When Ronald Agers is screaming “Where’s Dennis Schroder at?”, this tells the story of Vogel’s rotations. Granted he has to find options with AD out, but if players are on their game early, that’s no reason to take them out to start tinkering with the bench.
The story from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:
Montrezl Harrell…BEAST MODE!
LeBron James is LeBron James. You are looking at the NBA’s MVP if he keeps the Lakers within the third seed in the Western Conference. But the underrated star of this game was Montrezl Harrell. In the second half, he destroyed the Minnesota backline.
Trezz gets ‘em both with the double poster! 🤯🤯
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 17, 2021
(📺: @SpectrumSN) pic.twitter.com/4N1J36Hn0J
Karl Anthony-Towns and Naz Reid were dominant in the first half as discussed earlier. They both disappeared in the second half. At one point, the Timberwolves broadcasting team were getting frustrated because Minnesota could not get a rebound from Trezl. He finished with 17 points and 6 rebounds.
Those Lakers runs are still lethal:
The Los Angeles Lakers put this game away with two second-half runs. They had an 8-2 run in the third quarter to get in the lead. Then in the final quarter, the Lakers dismissed Minnesota with a 17-5 run to win with a workable margin.
Lake Show Life’s more in-depth breakdowns will come in Lake Show Life Lessons tomorrow. Keep it locked for the only Los Angeles Lakers post-game report with highlights and in-depth analysis.