Lakers Clamp Down, Use Tough Defense to Tie Series 1-1

Things are getting interesting in the West. While the Thunder have an early lead over the Grizzlies, both teams from Los Angeles have proven to be quite resilient.

First, the Clippers battled back against the Nuggets to tie the series 1-1. On Tuesday, it was the Lakers’ turn.

(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Following their cross town rival, the purple and gold rebounded after a tough game one loss and came away with a solid victory to regain momentum.

Unlike the Clippers, however, they didn’t do it by repeating their plan from game one. They did it by switching up the script.

One Big Quarter, One Easy Win

In game one, the Lakers were out of sorts from the beginning. The Timberwolves played hard off the ball, allowed the Lakers stars to score, but limited bench production.

LeBron James and Luka Doncic had big nights, but the offense was incredibly stagnant beyond that

On Tuesday, the Lakers attacked Minnesota in a different way.

Rather than being forced to play to their opponents, the favorite spread the ball around, found numerous ways to attack the rim, and got everyone involved. They also clamped down on defense.

Those aspects lifted up the entire team and created a much different contest. Rather than struggling for shots or good looks, they came out strong against the Timberwolves’ attack and cruised to a relatively easy win.

The Lakers exploded to a 34-15 lead at the end of the first quarter in front of their home crowd

That was all they needed. They lost two of the last three quarters, but still managed to finish the game by trading baskets and taking home a 94-85 victory.

It wasn’t just a strong showing on both sides of the ball, it also laid the blueprint for what Los Angeles needs to do going forward.

The Importance of Team Basketball

If there’s one thing Los Angeles can take away from their recent win, it’s that spreading the ball matters. Their big three of Austin Reaves, LeBron James, and Luke Doncic need to spearhead the attack, but it’s the supporting cast that helps bring it all home.

Where the Timberwolves largely silenced that cast on Saturday, this time they were overwhelmed. Doncic ended the night with 31 points, James had 21, and Reaves had 16.

However, they also had 9, 7 and 5 assists respectively.

Those passes went to each other, but also found Rui Hachimura (11 points), Dorian Finney-Smith (7 points), and Gabe Vincent (6 points).

With everyone touching the ball, it made the Lakers offense much harder to guard and allowed them to get their early lead.

Los Angeles is always going to depend on their big stars to carry them

The more Luka leads the way, the better they will do in the long run. Even so, if the entire team becomes a threat everything gets that much more difficult to stop.

A Familiar, but New, Defense

Where the offense clicked, the Lakers also did their job on the defensive side of the ball. The Timberwolves only scored 14 points in the first quarter and ended with just 85 points on the night.

That’s because they copied what the Timberwolves did to them in game one

Rather than letting the opposing offense get into a groove, they were more than happy to let the duo of Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle score while limiting everyone else’s production.

Edwards ended the night with 25. Randle had 27. Minnesota did not have another player score in double digits.

That kept the Timberwolves off balance all night and allowed Doncic to take over the game

He had another incredible showing, adding to his already impressive resume, and showed that if the Lakers are clicking Minnesota has no answer.

Not So Helpless After All

The game gave the Lakers and their fans plenty of reasons to be hopeful. It showed a ton of resilience, and proves that head coach J.J. Redick is more than capable of leading the team.

Despite his successful first season, there were many doubts about his ability in the postseason

After game one, those doubts only got louder.

Now, it seems he’s more than capable of handling his own. He completely switched up his game plan from the first contest, a move that gave his team the win.

At the end of the day, that’s what good coaches need to be able to do

Adaptation is the key to a good coach. Redick has a lot to play with on the talented Lakers’ roster, and can attack opposing teams in many ways.

The more he’s able to build different game plans for different teams, the more success he’ll have in the rest of the Timberwolves series and beyond.