The Lakers have been in a slump since the midseason tournament, winning just one of their five games, winning the Spurs and losing the next game to the Spurs. James will miss the Lakers' back-to-back games against the Timberwolves due to injury, adding to the already poor condition of the Lakers. The Timberwolves are now the first in the West, with 11 wins and 1 loss at home, and they are also the first defensive team this season, but they were cut by Embiid alone in the last game with 51 points, and they need to pinch a "soft persimmon" to prove themselves again.
Conley hit a three-point shot at the beginning, Russell flew to the basket, thick eyebrows pulled in from mid-range, Edwards made a layup, thick eyebrows scored another mid-range, Prince made a layup, Hachimura dunked with one arm, Russell hit a board, and the Lakers led 12-5. The Timberwolves showed the strength of the first place in the West and returned a wave of 9-2 to tie the score. Thick eyebrows hit two free throws, Edwards scored a layup, Hachimura hit a three-point shot, thick eyebrows scored from a mid-range point, Reed scored a three-point in the bottom corner, Reeves also scored three points, Walker threw a shot, Reed made a three-point shot, and the two sides tied 24-24. Towns dunked vigorously, Edwards hit 2+1, Lee Kyle made a layup, Reddish hit two free throws, Edwards dunked in the air, Hayes hit 2+1, Edwards hit a three-point shot, Prince also hit a three-point whistle, and the Lakers fell behind 32-36.
Reaves threw a shot, Lee Kyle hit 2+1, Reddish pulled a layup, Towns crossed Yang in 100 steps outside the three-point line, Reaves threw a shot, and then played 2+1, and the Lakers chased it to 41-44. The Timberwolves played 7-1 to open up the difference again, thick eyebrows hit both free throws, and then flew to the basket, McDaniels made two free throws, thick eyebrows threw and hit, Edwards stood on the free throw line and laughed at two points, Hachimura hit a jumper, McDaniels hit a three-point shot, Hachimura hit a backward shot, Gobert dunked vigorously, thick eyebrows hit both free throws, McDaniels hit a three-point shot, Reaves and Prince combined to contribute five points, and the Lakers trailed by four points at halftime at 59-63.
Conley hit a three-pointer, Bushy scored four straight points, Towns flew to the basket, Reddish hit a layup, Gobert hit both free throws, Reddish scored on the basket, Prince hit a three-pointer, and the Lakers tied the score at 70-70. The Timberwolves played 7-0 to establish an advantage again, Reaves scored four points in a row, Li Kyle assisted Gobert to catch a dunk in the air, and the thick eyebrows pulled in the middle distance, and then singled Towns to make it 2+1 and tie the score again. Edwards hit a mid-range shot, Hachimura hit a three-pointer again, and the Lakers overtook 82-81. Edwards hit a three-pointer, Reed hit Hachimura's face and was judged a first-degree malicious foul, Hachimura made one of two free throws, Reed made up for it with a three-pointer, and the Timberwolves led 87-83 to end the third quarter.
Lee Kyle hit a basket, Towns hit two free throws, Hachimura dunked, Lee Kyle hooked up, Reaves hit a mid-range board, McDaniels stepped back and made a jumper, Gobert made one of two free throws, and the Timberwolves led 96-87. Russell scored 2+1, Downs scored two points on horseback archery, thick eyebrows shot outside the three-point line, Downs hit a layup, Russell made a jumper, Gobert scored four points in a row, and the Timberwolves maintained a 9-point lead. Russell flew to the basket, Hachimura scored under the basket, Edwards hit a 2+1, Walker hit a three-point shot, and the Timberwolves led 110-99. Prince hit a three-pointer, Bush made one of two free throws, Gobert made a layup, Conley hit a three-pointer, and Edwards made one of two free throws to give the Timberwolves a 116-103 lead. Russell hit two three-pointers, Gobert dunked, Reaves scored a layup, and then the two sides stopped fighting, and the Timberwolves defeated the Lakers 118-111, giving the opponent a fourth straight loss.
In this game, thick eyebrows scored 31 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks in 11 of 20, Reaves scored 20 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in 7 of 14, Hachimura scored 18+5 in 7 of 12, Russell scored 17 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists in 7 of 20, and Prince scored 14 points and 5 rebounds in 4 of 4 three-pointers.
For the Timberwolves, Edwards scored 27+7+5 on 9-of-19 shooting, Towns scored 21+6 on 7-of-16 shooting, with a game-high plus/minus of +12, Gobert scored a double-double and scored 15+13 on 6-of-12, Conley scored 16 points and 8 assists on 6-of-9 shooting, and McDaniels scored 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
After the midseason tournament, the Lakers have suffered four consecutive defeats, and their record has also come to 15-14, and they have been surpassed by the Rockets and Suns in a row to reach tenth in the West, only 0.5 wins away from the Warriors in the eleventh place in the West, and they will next face the Thunder, who are second in the West, and the Celtics, who are first in the East, and are about to leave the play-in area.