The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the understaffed Los Angeles Lakers 112-92, and Carl Anthony Towns became the best performer in the game with 28 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, and the two-time All-Star shot 55.0% from the field.
Lakers center Anthony Davis had a deeply unsatisfactory game, first spraining his right ankle in the first quarter, returning in the second quarter, and then injuring his left knee in the third quarter, scoring only nine points and one rebound in the game. During the game, after hitting Davis in the back to score, Downs made a gesture to suggest that "Davis is too small", although Downs was extremely fast, but it was also captured by the camera.
After the game, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch believed that Towns was currently the best basket-to-basket singles player in the league, and on the inside, the rebounding ratio between the two sides was 61-36, and the frontcourt rebounding was 15-1, and the Lakers suffered a fiasco. Lakers head coach Vogel said: "I think the Timberwolves are strong all team, not just Towns, they have 15 offensive rebounds, and we only have 1, they play strong, so we have to do better." The Lakers had five players who triggered the league's health and safety deal, with Malik Mork, Howard, Tucker, Avery Bradley and Austin Reeves missing the game.
Towns showed his ability on the inside, while Davis continued to struggle to perform, and even for a while it was difficult to try to stop the Timberwolves star from scoring on the inside.
Davis' poor performance was criticized by O'Neal and Barkley, who said that the thick eyebrow brother should be responsible for the Lakers' slow heat, Barkley said, "Davis should play better, listen, you are 27 years old, you should be in the peak, you should be the best 5 players in the league, put together with the names of Durant and Alphabet Brother." ”
O'Neal supported that Davis must be a dominant player to help the Lakers turn things around this season, "AD didn't play great enough, 19 percent of the three-point shooting rate is unacceptable, the way he plays is unacceptable." ”
Prior to the 2019-2020 season, AD was considered the league's top 5 players, but things have changed in the last two seasons. Davis has received a lot of criticism now, but he is trying to get back to form and try to be the real core of the Lakers.