Los Angeles Lakers

Austin Reaves took ownership after a rough performance in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first game of the Los Angeles Lakers' first-round series on Saturday.

"I played s--tty," he told reporters Monday. "I wasn't myself. To what the reason was, I don't know. I just got to go out there and be myself, play my game and have fun doing it."

Reaves had 16 points, three assists and three boards in the 117-95 loss to the Wolves, shooting 38.5 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from deep.

The fourth-year player had the best regular season of his career, putting up 20.2 points, 5.8 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game, all of which were career highs. While he had an off night on Saturday, he should be able to bounce back strong and play more like himself on Tuesday.

But Reaves was far from the only problem for the Lakers on Saturday.

Aside from Luka Dončić, who had 37 points, it was a cold offensive night for everyone. LeBron James had 19 points and just three assists, shooting just 8-of-18 from the field and 1-of-5 from deep. The Lakers had just three players in double figures and shot 39.8 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from deep.

On the defensive side, Los Angeles allowed the Timberwolves anything they wanted. Jaden McDaniels led the way for Minnesota with 25, Naz Reid added 23 and Anthony Edwards posted 22. The Wolves shot a scorching hot 51.2 percent from the field and 50 percent from deep.

It's a bit unrealistic to expect Minnesota to shoot 50 or better from deep for four straight games, but the Lakers will need to make some adjustments to avoid going down 2-0 in the series on Tuesday.

Some people around the NBA questioned whether the Los Angeles Lakers' suffocating defense during a red-hot stretch of 20 wins in 24 games during the regular season was sustainable, according to The Athletic's Jovan Buha.

Part of L.A.'s defensive success was predicated on allowing secondary scorers and role players get good looks and watching them miss. Buha said in the newest episode of his podcast there was one belief within the league that the Lakers "were getting lucky with shot variance."

The idea was that the shots opposing players were clanging off the rim would likely start to fall sooner or later, and that regression spelled bad news for Los Angeles.

The risk behind the strategy was evident on Saturday night as the Minnesota Timberwolves went 21-of-42 from beyond the arc in a 117-95 win. Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels combined for nine of those made threes.

Buha made the point that Wolves shooters were wide open for "at least seven" of their successful long-range efforts.

"And then another four to five were half-assed to like not really there closeouts," he said. "So, it's like if over half of their threes are either open or like weak closeouts … Certainly, Minnesota could've had the same shots and just not made them, but the average team, you give them a bunch of open looks, they're gonna make those shots."

The team that wins Game 1 of an NBA playoff series has overwhelmingly gone on to advance. Los Angeles no longer has home-court advantage, either.

Still, nobody is going to count out a squad with LeBron James and Luka Dončić after just one loss. Game 2 could tell a much different story on the court.

Whether it's Minnesota's hot shooting or the way in which the Wolves pushed L.A. around, however, Saturday's contest did expose some flaws that can only be addressed so much through JJ Redick's mid-series adjustments.

In the case of the Lakers' defensive scheme, what worked in the regular season isn't always as useful in the playoffs.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and head coach JJ Redick acknowledged the team, at least for one game, didn't grasp the challenge ahead against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs.

"Maybe it took us one playoff game to now get a feel for it and know what type of intensity, the type of physicality is going to be brought to the game," James told reporters after a 117-95 defeat. "But that's just the way they play. So we should be more than prepared for that on Tuesday night [in Game 2]."

Redick offered a similarly blunt assessment.

"It's not to say our guys weren't ready to withstand a playoff-level basketball game. … I'm not sure physically we were ready," he said. "And really when [the Wolves] started playing with a lot of thrust and physicality, we just didn't respond to meet that."

The Timberwolves had 12 more points than the Lakers in the paint and shot 21-of-42 from beyond the arc. Redick and his staff garnered plenty of praise for Los Angeles' work defensively in the regular season, but L.A. watched as Minnesota's Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid all dropped 20-plus points.

Luka Dončić, meanwhile, was the only Lakers player to eclipse that threshold. He had a game-high 37 points and was his team's leading rebounder with eight boards.

"I just tried to set the tone early," Dončić said. "But obviously, one assist, that's not good enough for me."

The five-time All-Star added that the Lakers "let go of the rope" after jumping ahead by seven points to end the first quarter. Minnesota outscored Los Angeles 38-20 in the second frame.

The series is far from over and a lot has changed from last year. But fans might be seeing James' comments in particular and getting reminders of the 2024 first round, when head coach Darvin Ham tried to accentuate the positive after an 11-point loss to the Denver Nuggets.

The way in which the Lakers lost was the nightmare scenario from the moment they sent Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks to land Dončić. They lost an elite rim protector on top of still lacking in perimeter defense. Minnesota exploited both of those facets.

The playoffs are all about making adjustments. Redick and his assistants will watch the Game 1 film and try to nullify Minnesota's edge inside. The Wolves probably aren't going to knock down 21 three-pointers in every game, either.

Still, Saturday's contest may have exposed some flaws on the Lakers that simply aren't solvable with the personnel at Redick's disposal.

The Los Angeles Lakers increased the anticipation for their first postseason with the tandem of Luka Dončić and LeBron James playing together by releasing a hype video prior to Game 1 of their series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"Focused joy" is the theme of the video, which is described as putting in the extra work and going all out in games to win by any means necessary.

The Lakers-Wolves series might be the most anticipated first-round matchup this year, not just because interest is high in seeing what Dončić and James can do together in the playoffs.

Los Angeles has emerged as one of the biggest threats to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference. Those two teams split a back-to-back in Oklahoma City on April 6 and 8, with the Lakers handing the Thunder their worst loss of the season in the first game (126-99).

Getting to a potential Western Conference Finals matchup with the Thunder, though, will require the Lakers to first get by a Minnesota team that has the size and depth to cause them a lot of problems.

Anthony Edwards, whose 27.8 points per game in the playoffs is the ninth-highest mark in NBA history, is never one to shy away from a big moment. He was brilliant in last year's postseason, averaging 27.6 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game in 16 starts.

The Lakers have two of the six highest-scoring players in postseason history. Dončić's 30.9 points per game trails only Michael Jordan for the most all-time.

If the Lakers are going to make a deep run, it will be largely on the strength of Dončić and James being an unstoppable duo.

Their first step on the playoff journey begins with Game 1 at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.

After pulling off one of the biggest trades in recent sports history, Rob Pelinka has been rewarded with a new contract from the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers announced Friday that they signed Pelinka to a contract extension, plus he now holds the title of president of basketball operations in addition to being the GM.

Los Angeles' roster was poorly constructed for most of LeBron James' tenure with the franchise, particularly after the team won the NBA Finals in 2019-20. The Russell Westbrook trade was a failure, though dealing him midway through the 2022-23 season did provide some respite for the organization.

The Lakers advanced to the Western Conference Finals during the 2022-23 season thanks in large part to the depth Pelinka added prior to the the trade deadline, including Rui Hachimura, D'Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt.

Pelinka hit a home run on Feb. 2 when the Lakers acquired Luka Dončić in a surprise trade with the Dallas Mavericks. The move gave the franchise a long-term building block for the post-James era, but also immediately improved the team.

The Lakers vaulted up to the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, finishing with a 50-32 record during the regular season. They will face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs.

Pelinka took over as Lakers general manager in February 2017 after serving as Kobe Bryant's agent. His tenure in the front office began as a disappointment, but he took over a difficult situation with a rebuilding roster that didn't have a foundation piece until James showed up.

There were at times issues on the court and behind the scenes for Pelinka. The Lakers were talking to Monty Williams and Tyronn Lue for their head coaching job in 2019 after Luke Walton was fired.

ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Jorge Sedano reported in April 2019 (h/t Ashish Mathur of Clutch Points) that people were telling Williams and Lue not to take the Lakers' job because the situation was such a mess.

Frank Vogel was hired as Los Angeles' next head coach on May 13, 2019. That move came after Lue passed on the job because he "felt insulted" the Lakers only offered him a three-year deal, per ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

Vogel was fired after the 2021-22 season following a 33-49 finish and 11th-place finish in the Western Conference. Darvin Ham had a 90-74 record in two seasons before being fired in May 2024.

JJ Redick was hired as Ham's replacement the following month. He was the fourth different head coach the Lakers had during Pelinka's tenure as general manager.

It was an out-of-the-box hire since Redick had no previous coaching experience, but it turned out be a terrific move by Pelinka. He meshed well with James right away, not a surprise given their past podcast work together, and Dončić fit in as soon as he arrived in L.A.

Even with some bumps along the way, Pelinka has done a good job overall in one of the most high-pressure jobs in all of North American sports. He has been rewarded with a new deal that will allow him to continue building the Lakers roster as they look to remain among the Western Conference elites into the future.

Even former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski sounds a little surprised with how well the Los Angeles Lakers have performed on defense with JJ Redick, one of his former players, at the helm.

"I reached out to him and said, 'Who the hell would've predicted you could teach defense?'" Krzyzewski said to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

It's true defense wasn't Redick's forte as a player. He built his reputation on being a scorer and consistent three-point threat.

The general skepticism toward the Lakers' defense was more about their personnel rather than the coach. They ranked 12th and 17th in defensive rating, per NBA.com, in Darvin Ham's two years. LeBron James isn't getting any younger, and there aren't many on the team you'd consider to be a plus defender individually.

Seventeenth is also where L.A. finished for the 2024-25 season, but this is a case where the raw numbers don't tell the full story.

Finishing in the middle of the pack is impressive when the Lakers gave up an elite rim protector, Anthony Davis, at the trade deadline for Luka Dončić, a star whose defensive flaws are routinely exploited.

Los Angeles has been better than the sum of its parts on defense, and a lot has to do with the scheme Redick and his staff drew up.

"What they're doing seems very simple, but it's actually a lot of preparation," Krzyzewski said to Shelburne. "They make it where the other team's lower-percentage shooters are taking more shots."

Now, the general narrative will shift a bit if the Lakers are toasted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round or their defense is clearly not at the required level later in the playoffs.

To this point, though, Redick has managed to answer a lot of the people who thought he'd be in way over his head in his first coaching job.

On the eve of the Los Angeles Lakers starting their journey in the NBA playoffs, franchise icon Magic Johnson is getting some butterflies about the matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

In a post on X, Johnson explained he's "scared" for the Lakers because of what the NBA's "most exciting player" Anthony Edwards can do against them.

The Lakers-Timberwolves matchup might be the most-anticipated of the eight first-round series in the playoffs.

Los Angeles has arguably the best duo entering the postseason with Luka Dončić and LeBron James. There are concerns about the team's defensive upside in the playoffs and lack of a true center that present matchup problems against the right opponent.

Minnesota doesn't have a dynamic offensive center, but Rudy Gobert will make an impact on defense. His size can also cause problems for Lakers a team that ranked 19th in rebound percentage during the regular season.

Ultimately, though, this series will likely be decided by Edwards' ability to help the Timberwolves' offense keep pace with the Lakers because they don't have many proven playoff scorers on the roster.

Julius Randle is a 34.4 percent shooter from the field in 15 postseason games.

Jaden McDaniels has been an efficient playoff shooter (54.4 percent overall; 44.7 percent from three), but his game-to-game consistency hasn't been there. He has scored fewer than 10 points in 11 of 22 playoff games.

Edwards, who is relishing the underdog role going into this series, was a dominant force in Minnesota's run to the Western Conference Finals last season. He averaged 27.6 points on 48.1 percent shooting (40.0 percent from three), 7.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game in 16 starts.

The Lakers and Timberwolves split four head-to-head meetings in the regular season, but it's hard to read anything into those results. Three of those games were played before Dončić was traded to Los Angeles.

Gobert didn't play in their final meeting on Feb. 27, which the Lakers won 111-102. James led all scorers with 33 points and 17 rebounds. Edwards scored 18 points on just 12 field-goal attempts, tied for his fifth-fewest in a game all season.

The Timberwolves and Lakers will play Game 1 of the Western Conference first round series at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Nobody can accuse Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić of lacking confidence.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick said Wednesday the five-time All-Star "thinks there’s not a person in the world who can guard him."

Dončić's self-belief is certainly earned. He was a first-team All-NBA honoree in his second season and has maintained that level throughout his career.

Between suiting up for the Lakers and Dallas Mavericks this year, the 26-year-old has averaged 28.2 points on 45.0 percent shooting along with 8.2 rebounds and 7.7 assists.

Dončić's supreme confidence does have one drawback, though.

His usage rate (35.5 percent) is on pace to be the highest all time. One consistent critique is he might be too ball-dominant, which slows the game down and throws his teammates out of rhythm.

Despite joining a roster with LeBron James, Dončić's usage rate with L.A. (34.5 percent) is tracking pretty closely to his career number. The early returns from his Lakers run are encouraging, but the playoffs will present a much different test.

Starting with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round, opposing coaches will have more time to devise defensive schemes with Luka in mind. Postseason basketball isn't played at the same tempo, either, as each individual possession becomes more valuable.

In a one-on-one situation, there aren't many players you'd take ahead of Dončić. But he and Redick know the Lakers' path to playoff success requires more than iso ball for 48 minutes.

Bronny James is helping the Los Angeles Lakers prepare for their first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves by taking on the role of Anthony Edwards in practice.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick said the Lakers had James and Shake Milton serve as the Edwards stand-ins on the scout team during Wednesday's practice, per The Athletic's Jovan Buha.

The Timberwolves have meanwhile been using Joe Ingles to play the role of Luka Dončić in their own practices, according to Buha.

The Wolves and Lakers haven't played one another at full strength since Dončić arrived in Los Angeles this February.

The two teams matched up when Dončić and James were in the starting lineup on Feb. 27, but Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle were both out, and Edwards was ejected in the third quarter of the Minnesota loss.

What the Wolves do have is playoff experience facing Dončić, who averaged more than 32 points per game while leading the Dallas Mavericks to a five-game series victory over the Wolves in last spring's Western Conference Finals.

Redick recently said the Lakers are using Dončić's experience against Minnesota as a resource ahead of their own playoff matchups.

"There are nuances to what teams are trying to do against certain opponents," Redick said about getting Dončić's scouting report of the Wolves, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

During that series the Mavericks double-teamed Edwards, who still averaged 22 points per game but wasn't able to find his usual dominance under Dallas' coverage.

Edwards is likely now preparing for similar treatment in Los Angeles. Wolves guard Mike Conley said that Edwards has been studying the Lakers ever since Minnesota's first-round opponent was set, per Chris Hine of the Minnesota Star Tribune.

"He’s been locked in since we knew we were playing the Lakers. He was already texting the group and getting us all ready and watching film and getting ready to go, so I know he’s going to be ready," Conley said, per Hine.

The Lakers and Timberwolves tip off Game 1 in Los Angeles on Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. ET.

The Los Angeles Lakers won't make any changes to their roster ahead of the NBA Playoffs.

Per ESPN's Dave McMenamin, the Lakers opted not to convert two-way players Trey Jemison III and Christian Koloko to NBA contracts before the playoffs, meaning the two won't be able to suit up in the postseason.

According to McMenamin, the decision came because Los Angeles “liked the chemistry of the group" heading into the playoffs.

Both Jemison and Koloko made the most of the few minutes they got this season, but keeping them off the roster gives Los Angeles the flexibility to give Alex Len the final roster spot.

Len won't be a huge difference maker in the playoffs—he put up just 1.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in about 12 minutes per game—but having another 7-footer is vital for a Lakers team that doesn't have much depth in the frontcourt.

The two biggest factors for the Lakers this postseason will be their stars, Luka Dončić and LeBron James.

Dončić had a bit of a slow start upon arrival in Los Angeles, but he quickly returned to his typical form. In 28 games, Dončić put up 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.5 assists per contest to close out the season.

James has been phenomenal in his 22nd season, averaging 24.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds.

This postseason will look a bit different for James because, for the first time in his career, he won't be his team's No. 1 option. With Dončić on the roster, James will get the chance to play off the ball more, which should keep him fresh for what Los Angeles hopes will be a deep playoff run.

The first-round matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves won't be easy, but if Dončić and James play the way they have all season and the Lakers supporting staff of Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and others come to play, Los Angeles should have enough to advance to the second round.