The Lakers sat at home and withstood the Timberwolves' counterattack in the final quarter, beating their opponents 108-103 and winning two consecutive wins. The Lakers have finally recovered during this time, winning 3 and losing 1 in the past 4 games, and the winning percentage has once again come to 50%. Despite the game victory, the Lakers' small lineup is still flawed.
Vogel used the small squad of the previous game in this game, James still played the starting center, and the other four were Westbrook, Bradley, Stanley Johnson and Munch. This is also the case for the Timberwolves' lack of Towns, but reed and Vanderbilt, who are on the bench, still create a lot of trouble for the Lakers' interior line, and the two have a total of 23 rebounds in this game, including 8 offensive rebounds. The Lakers grabbed a total of 28 rebounds and 4 offensive rebounds throughout the game.
The Lakers rebounded 28 fewer than the Timberwolves in the whole game, allowing the opponent to steal 20 offenses, and each offensive rebound meant that the Timberwolves had one more offensive opportunity. This time the Timberwolves got 92 shots, the Lakers only 75, really thanks to the Timberwolves this time the poor feel, three-point shooting 9 of 38, shooting only 23.7%, a little more accurate, the Lakers may lose the game. Facing the Timberwolves who lack Downs and Russell, the Lakers played so hard that they still needed to solve the problem of the inside line.
James was also very dissatisfied with this situation, saying after the game: "It is unacceptable to be robbed of 20 offensive rebounds, but it is good that we lose 1 point almost every rebound." In fact, to let James play as a center, he is still a little uncomfortable, after all, he has not appeared in the previous 18 seasons. It can be seen that the height disadvantage is still very obvious, sometimes there is no full force to go to the card position, it is clear that the Lakers' small lineup is still running, and when Davis returns, he can still alleviate the pressure on the inside line.
In the face of such Timberwolves, Vogel gave up two major centers Howard and Jordan Jr., which is still quite puzzling. After all, the Timberwolves did not have Towns, and it was still possible to let Howard play against a Reed, but unfortunately he did not get Vogel's call and sat on the court all the time. If the Lakers are iron-hearted to play the small lineup, then Howard and Jordan Jr. can completely give up one person, and it is a bit of a waste to keep it, and a quota can be used to sign a forward player, and it can also be top to the center position.