The Western play-offs officially began, the first game was played by the Lakers, ranked seventh in the West, against the eighth-ranked Timberwolves in the West, Timberwolf Gobert was suspended, the difference between the strength of the two teams was not large, the game was also alternately leading, and finally the Lakers passed overtime, defeated the Timberwolves 108:102, locked up the seventh in the West, and the playoffs will face the Grizzlies.
In this game, James scored 30 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks, shot 12 of 21, 3 of 6 three-pointers, plus and minus value is the lowest -14 in the team, aside from the plus and minus, James played absolutely well in this game, played a full 45 minutes, fought very the court, and got the Lakers' game-high score, although there were no points in overtime, but the effect was very obvious.
Davis scored 24 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks in this game, filled the data column, shot 10 of 19, and was still very dominant at the basket, especially 9 frontcourt rebounds, which is enough to prove his strong strength. In the game, Davis had a total of 5 turnovers, and a three-point foul on Conley in the final minute also nearly cost the Lakers the victory.
Schroder scored 21 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, 3-of-4 three-pointers, and a game-high +22 points, and after coming off the bench, he became the catalyst for the team's offense and fully activated the Lakers' offense. The final three-point shootout was also extremely exciting, almost helping the team seal the victory! I wonder if Schroeder's performance can win him a big contract?
The performance of Russell, another star player of the Lakers, was disappointing, facing the old owner Timberwolves, Russell could not find a touch throughout the game, only scored 2 points and 8 assists, shot 1 of 9, 3-pointers 4 of 0, in the game, facing familiar teammates, completely contained by the other party!
Reeves started the game, scored 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, shot 4 of 13, 1 of 5 three-pointers, and in his first play-offs, he was still a little nervous, the shooting didn't feel too good, and the sideline serve error in the final minute almost cost the Lakers a loss. Rebounding at key moments is also a way to show his value.
Another outstanding substitute was Hachimura, who scored 12 points and 2 rebounds, made 2 of 5 three-pointers, and was very focused on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, which helped the team a lot, and together with Schroeder, became a substitute.
The other two Timberwolves veterans of the Lakers, Vanderbilt and Beasley, also performed badly, Vanderbilt did not score a point, Beasley only scored 5 points, it seems that the Timberwolves three are still very affectionate for their old club!