On December 22, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and the Lakers challenged the Timberwolves back-to-back. The two teams played very close in this game, and the difference between the points could not be opened, the Lakers fell behind by 4 points after the third quarter of the game, and the Timberwolves successfully opened the difference in the final quarter, and then Russell hit three points in a row, but unfortunately it failed to continue. In the end, the Lakers lost to the Timberwolves 111-118 and suffered a four-game losing streak.
In the first quarter of the game, James was absent due to injury, the Lakers came up to fight the away, Davis led the team to score consecutive points, and Russell broke through to score and took a 12-5 lead. McDaniels scored consecutive points to close the score, Downs hit a three-point shot, the two sides fell into a tug-of-war, Hachimura hit a three-point shot, Davis continued to score points, Reed hit a three-point shot, Reaves directly replied, Reed scored three points again, Towns counterattacked and dunked, Edwards scored 2+1, and the Timberwolves played a wave of 11-0 offensive and successfully took the initiative on the court. Reddish made a free throw, Edwards countered with a dunk, and then hit a three-pointer, and Prince answered with a three-pointer to put the Lakers up 32-36 after the first quarter.
In the second quarter of the game, Li Kaier came up to play 2+1, Downs hit a three-point shot, Reeves broke through and scored, and then scored 2+1 to help the team stabilize the situation. Conley hit a three-pointer, Davis came up to score consecutive points to help the team stabilize the situation, Hachimura scored from mid-range, McDaniels hit a three-pointer, and Gobert dunked a basket to take a 60-52 lead. Davis made both free throws to stop the bleeding, McDaniels hit a three-pointer and Prince responded as the Lakers trailed 59-63 at halftime.
Yibian fought again, Conley came up for three points and scored again, the two teams were still in a tug-of-war, Davis also scored in the middle distance, Towns counterattacked, the Lakers were in good shape, Prince scored three points, and the score came to 70 draws. Conley and Edwards broke through to score points, the Timberwolves took the initiative again with a wave of 7-0, Reaves scored 4 points in a row to stop the bleeding, Gobert received a violent dunk, Davis singled Gobert to win, and then scored 2+1, Hachimura hit a three-point shot to overtake the score, Edwards immediately replied, Reed fouled Hachimura first-level maliciously, and finally Reed hit a three-point shot, and the Timberwolves led 87-83 after the third quarter.
In the final quarter of the game, Li Kaier scored a basket, Towns hit two free throws, Hachimura counterattacked and dunked, Li Kaier continued to score points, and the Timberwolves took the initiative. Then Russell played 2+1, Davis hit a three-point shot, the Lakers successfully bit the score, and Gobert made a dunk, and the score was 102-95 ahead of the Timberwolves. Russell broke through and scored, Hachimura counterattacked, Edwards played 2+1 to stabilize the situation, and Walker hit a three-point shot, bringing the score to 110-99. Then Prince and Russell hit three points one after another, but unfortunately they could not be continued, and finally the Lakers lost to the Timberwolves 111-118 and suffered a four-game losing streak.
The Lakers failed to surprise in this game, losing the game, and the whole team left the court in frustration, Davis scored 31 points and 8 rebounds, Reaves scored 20 points, and Russell scored 17 points. Timberwolves Edwards had 27 points, Towns 21 and Gobert 15 points and 13 rebounds.