Timberwolves gore Lakers late, take 2-1 series lead

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‘I’ve got to be ultra aggressive every game, and we'll be able to get it done,’ says Anthony Edwards as his Timberwolves spoil LeBron James’ 38-point outburst for the Lakers

Jaden McDaniels scored 30 points, Anthony Edwards had 29, and the Minnesota Timberwolves finished strong for a 116-104 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series in Minneapolis on Friday night, April 25 (Saturday, April 26, Manila time).

Julius Randle added 22 points for Minnesota, which took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo came off the bench to chip in 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Game 4 will be Sunday, April 27, in Minneapolis.

“We’ve got to come out and be aggressive,” Edwards said about the Timberwolves attempting to take a 3-1 series lead. “I’ve got to be ultra aggressive every game, and we’ll be able to get it done.”

LeBron James netted 38 points on 13-for-21 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Los Angeles. 

Austin Reaves scored 20 points, thanks largely to five three-pointers, and Luka Doncic scored 17 points but made only 6-of-16 shots from the field and 2-of-8 from three-point range. 

Doncic also had 5 of Los Angeles’ 19 turnovers but contributed 8 assists and 7 rebounds.

“He’s moving better,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said about James. “It seems like he’s getting healthier by the day.”

The Timberwolves outscored the Lakers 62-46 in the second half.

Doncic drove toward the rim and made a step-back jumper to even the score at 103-all with 4:37 to go. Los Angeles had trailed 100-93 after Reid knocked down a three-pointer with 7:31 remaining.

The Timberwolves built their lead back to 7 points in the next couple minutes.

Edwards put Minnesota back on top 106-103 with a three-pointer from the top of the key with 4:19 to go. Reid followed with a triple from the left wing to make it 109-103.

After Reaves made one of two free throws to cut the deficit to 109-104, Edwards took control once again. He drove against James and finished with a layup to increase the Timberwolves’ lead to 111-104 with 2:18 remaining.

Edwards then set the home crowd into hysterics when he dribbled between his legs and stepped back for a long jump shot to make it 113-104 with 1:06 left.

“I just knew I had to try to figure it out and lead my team to a win,” Edwards said. “I hadn’t been playing to the best of my ability in the first two games, so I was just trying to figure out how to get in my spots and be efficient.”

Rui Hachimura missed a three-pointer on the opposite end for the Lakers, and McDaniels added to the late surge with a 3-pointer from the right corner to make it 116-104 with 39.1 seconds left.

The Timberwolves led 86-84 at the end of the third quarter.

An 8-0 run early in the third quarter allowed Minnesota to overtake the Lakers. Edwards and Randle hit back-to-back three-pointers to punctuate the run, which ended when James scored on an alley-oop dunk to pull Los Angeles within 67-65.

Edwards provided a highlight-reel play to give the Timberwolves a 76-72 edge with 4:39 left in the third quarter. He drove the baseline and soared past a leaping Doncic for a dunk.

“He just got into the teeth of our defense too much,” Redick said. “The fact is we don’t have quote-unquote rim protection. So if we give up blow-bys, we’re going to give up something. We’re going to give up a three or we’re going to give up a shot from him at the rim.”

The Lakers led 58-54 at the half. – Rappler.com