How do the Lakers match up against the Timberwolves entering their playoff series?

Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times on Apr 14, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

LOS ANGELES — Four games and no information? A season series that offers little roadmap for the postseason meetings to come?

It's a bit of a weird situation as the Lakers head into the playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves, their roster overhaul and strange December making it hard to really look to the past for information on the future.

"We had games the last, six, seven weeks where we hadn't played the team since [Anthony Davis] was on the team and didn't have Luka [Doncic]. So we have a way of prepping based on previous games, previous games against Luka," JJ Redick said Sunday. "We have a general idea of what their rules are, just like they have a general idea of what our rules are."

Still, there have to be things from the Lakers games with the Timberwolves this year that are going to matter.

As the teams open their first-round playoff series Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET at Crypto.com Arena, let's take a quick look at how they match up.

Key team stats

Lakers:

Record: 50-32

Offensive rating (OFF RTG): 115.0 (11th)

Defensive rating (DEF RTG):113.8 (17th)

Net Rating (NET RTG)*: 1.2 (14th)

(*Net rating subtracts defensive rating from offensive rating for a projected margin of victory.)

Timberwolves:

Record: 49-33

Offensive Rating (OFF RTG): 115.7 (8th)

Defensive Rating (DEF RTG): 110.8 (6th)

Net Rating (NET RTG)*: 5.0 (4th)

(*Net rating subtracts defensive rating from offensive rating for a projected margin of victory.)

Players to watch

Lakers:

Luka Doncic: 28.2 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 7.5 apg, 43.8 fg%/37.9 3-pt. fg%/79.1 ft%

LeBron James: 24.4 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 8.2 apg, 51.3 fg%/37.6 3-pt. fg%/78.2 ft%

Austin Reaves: 20.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 5.8 apg, 46.0 fg%/37.7 3-pt. fg%/87.7 ft%

Timberwolves:

Anthony Edwards: 27.4 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 4.5 apg, 44.7 fg%/39.5 3-pt. fg%/83.6 ft%

Rudy Gobert: 11.9 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 1.4 bpg, 67.4 fg%/67.5 ft%

Julius Randle: 18.8 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 4.7 apg, 48.5 fg%/34.7 3-pt. fg%/80.6 ft%

How they fared

Season Series: 2-2

— Oct. 22, 2024, in Los Angeles

Lakers 110, Timberwolves 103

The Lakers won their season opener as LeBron and Bronny James become the first father-son duo to play as teammates in an NBA game. JJ Redick's first win was sparked by the Lakers holding Minnesota to just 42 first-half points. Davis dominated with 36 points, Rui Hachimura had 18, LeBron had 16 and Reaves scored 12, the Lakers shooting 5 of 30 from 3-point range. Edwards led Minnesota with 27.

— Dec. 2 in Minneapolis

Timberwolves 109, Lakers 80

The Lakers had a season low for points, playing without an injured Reaves (hip contusion). The team made only 6 of 31 from 3, with D'Angelo Russell making four of them. Edwards shot just 3 of 13, but three different Minnesota reserves scored in double figures off the bench.

— Dec. 13 in Minneapolis

Timberwolves 97, Lakers 87

The Lakers offense was only slightly better in Reaves' first game back from injury. LeBron was out dealing with a foot injury. Four players not currently on the roster played significant minutes — Davis, Max Christie, Russell and Cam Reddish.

— Feb. 27 in Los Angeles

Lakers 111, Timberwolves 102

Playing with their full rotation, the Lakers held Minnesota to 17 first-quarter points while leading by as many as 17 points. LeBron scored 33 and grabbed 17 rebounds while Reaves had 23 and Doncic 21 against Minnesota, which was playing without Randle and Gobert. Rookie Terrance Shannon Jr. led Minnesota with 25 points off the bench. Anthony Edwards got ejected and played just 26 minutes.

____