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The Lakers moved up to eighth in the West and still have hope of continuing to move up the rankings.
The Lakers will face the Timberwolves back-to-back at home tomorrow. With the Lakers' big win over the Cavaliers at home today, the Lakers have won four in a row, surpassing the Kings to eighth in the West with a record of 45 wins and 33 losses, the Lakers began to exert their strength at the end of the regular season, with 9 wins in the last 10 games, and the performance can be described as strong, the Zhan Mei combination continues to exert strength, Russell's performance also tends to be stable, Hachimura and Rivers can also stand up to help, Vincent and Dinwiddie's defense makes up for the shortcomings of the team's backline, and the Lakers' recent performance is really getting better and better. The Lakers are currently only 0.5 wins behind the seventh-place Pelicans, 1.5 wins behind the sixth-place Suns, the Pelicans and Kings are short of major generals, and the Suns' remaining schedule is difficult, the Lakers will seize the opportunity to continue to work hard to improve the rankings, and the Lakers have a great hope of rising to seventh in the West and even hitting sixth in the West.
The Timberwolves and Nuggets are competing for the first place in the West.
The Timberwolves didn't slump without core player Towns, Edwards played the role of the team's leader, and his offensive ability became stronger and stronger, Gobert's interior defense was a barrier for the team, the veteran Conley's needle-threading helped the team, and Reed and McDaniels were always able to play consistently. So even though Towns has been absent for a long time, the Timberwolves have still been able to stabilize their record and have always been in the first group in the West, and now they are ranked second in the West with a record of 53-24, only 0.5 wins behind the Nuggets in the first place in the West, and 1 win ahead of the Thunder in third. The Timberwolves are still chasing the No. 1 spot in the West, and the battle between the Timberwolves and the Nuggets for the top spot in the West should not be known until after the regular season.
The record of the two teams playing each other this season
On December 22, 2023, the Lakers lost to the Timberwolves 111-118 away.
On December 31, 2023, the Lakers lost to the Timberwolves 106-108 away.
On March 11, 2024, the Lakers defeated the Timberwolves 120-109 at home. It is worth mentioning that in the Lakers' home victory over the Timberwolves, the core player of the Timberwolves, Towns, was absent, and the defensive gate Gobert was also absent from the game, and the thick eyebrows dominated the Wolves restricted area, and the data of 27 points, 25 rebounds, 7 steals and 3 blocks led the team to victory.
The Lakers are 1-2 against the Timberwolves this season, but tomorrow the Timberwolves will continue to be sidelined and the Lakers have a chance to continue to beat the Wolves at home.
If the Lakers win against the Timberwolves, they could move up to seventh.
The Lakers are currently only 0.5 wins behind the seventh-place Pelicans, the Pelicans have suffered four consecutive defeats, the team's core Ingram's absence due to injury still has a great impact on the team, the Pelicans will challenge the Suns on the road tomorrow, and it is likely to continue the losing streak, if the Lakers beat the Timberwolves tomorrow, they will overtake the Pelicans to rise to seventh in the West, and the Lakers will also go all out to win.
Thick eyebrows remain the key to whether the Lakers can beat the Timberwolves.
Thick eyebrows are a barometer for the Lakers, and as long as he can play well, the Lakers will most likely win the game. When he's pinned down or downside by an opposing interior player, it's hard for the Lakers to win the game. If the thick eyebrows can play an efficient performance in the face of Gobert's defense, if the thick eyebrows can find their outside touch and use more mid- and long-range shots to pull Gobert out of the interior for punishment, then the Lakers still have a big chance of winning.
Back-to-back games are a physical test for the Lakers.
Tomorrow's back-to-back games are a great test of the physical fitness of Lakers players, especially James is 39 years old, and his ability problems will definitely affect his performance after continuous high-intensity games, and thick eyebrows should also pay attention to injury problems. Therefore, if you want to win the game against the Wolves, you need other teams of the Lakers to step up more, and players such as Russell, Hachimura, Rivers, Dinwiddie, Vincent, and Prince need to take more responsibility for winning.
Prediction for both teams to start
Timberwolves starters: Edwards, Lee Kyle, Gobert, Reed, Conley
Lakers starters: James, Bushy Eyebrows, Russell, Rivers, Hachimura