The Los Angeles Lakers took care of business on Tuesday, winning Game 2 of their first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves by a score of 94-85. It wasn't pretty, but few things in the playoffs are, and JJ Redick has to be thrilled with how his team responded to his challenge to get more physical after a Game 1 loss.
Defensively, it was night and day from Game 1 to Game 2, as the Lakers were able to hold the Wolves to only five 3s, down from a franchise playoff record 21 the game before. Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels both went wild in Game 1, but they were held in check a few days later, and Anthony Edwards was again held to an inefficient night from the floor.
Though the Lakers have to be relieved after tying the series up, they still have work to do now that they've lost home-court advantage. Minnesota has been one of the hottest teams in the league since the All-Star break, and the Target Center crowd is sure to be out in full force, so it's going to take even more than it did in Game 2 to come away with a win.
Luka Dončić has been the one Laker that Redick has been able to fully count on through the first two games. The trade deadline acquisition has been exactly what Rob Pelinka envisioned when he stole him from the Dallas Mavericks and current enemy of the state of Texas Nico Harrison, as he's put up 68 points in two games while leading both teams in scoring, rebounds and assists in Game 2.
Dončić has shown in his career that he's capable of putting an entire team on his back and carrying it through multiple rounds of the playoffs, but in an ideal world, the Lakers would feel much better if his teammates helped him a bit along the way. So far, that hasn't really happened.
Nobody would be surprised if Dončić dropped a 50-bomb in front of over 19,000 Minnesotans tonight, but as great as he is, that's not a sustainable model of success. To really feel good about their chances tonight, the Lakers need these three players to step up their games.
Austin Reaves has been getting picked on defensively, and it's affecting him on the offensive end
Austin Reaves has grown tremendously throughout his four years in the league, to the point that he's on the verge of becoming an All-Star as soon as next year. This season he put up career highs in points, rebounds and assists, and Redick has been happy to put more on his plate because he trusts Reaves to handle it.
Offensively, Reaves has gotten better and better. He's always been a defensive liability though, and predictably, the Wolves are picking on him in this series. Both Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle have been ruthlessly hunting Reaves on switches, with Ant trying to beat him with his superior athleticism and Randle content to bully him with his extra four inches and 50 pounds of bulk.
The Lakers know that Reaves is a weak link defensively, but normally his versatile offensive game is more than enough to make up for that. Not in Games 1 and 2 though, as he's managed just 32 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Divide by two and you've got a 16/4/4 line, with all three categories coming short of his season averages.
Whether it's physical fatigue from getting bullied on the defensive end, or a lack of confidence from the Wolves making him their primary defensive target, it seems to have affected Reaves. He was putrid in the first half of Game 1, and even when the Lakers won Game 2, he was 0-6 from 3-point range.
He needs to come alive tonight to give the Lakers their best shot at winning.
Jaxson Hayes needs to show some signs of life before he plays himself out of the rotation entirely
Trading away Anthony Davis for Luka Dončić completely reshaped the Lakers' entire gameplan. Though Luka has undoubtedly been worth it, JJ Redick has had to grapple with being undermanned at center since early February.
The Lakers tried to trade for Mark Williams at the deadline, but that deal fell through. That left Jaxson Hayes to pick up the slack, and for a while, that's exactly what he did. In large part through his efforts, the Lakers greatly improved on the defensive end, and he looked like just the kind of dynamic lob threat that Luka has said he loves playing with.
As the season has worn on though, Hayes has fallen out of favor, and it's getting to the point that he's in danger of falling out of the rotation entirely. Against a Minnesota squad that can throw Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid at you, that's not a good thing, because the Lakers just don't have the size elsewhere on the roster to bang down low with those guys, especially since Christian Koloko and Trey Jemison III aren't for the postseason.
Of the 56 regular season games Hayes has played this season, he failed to crack the 10-minute mark three times. In two playoff games, he's gone under both times, playing just 17 total minutes despite starting both games.
Hayes being put on the shelf is especially tough to see after he took a shot at Gobert before the series began, saying, "He's my matchup but he's not my main focus."
The Lakers were able to get by in Game 2 with Hayes playing limited minutes, and they even won the rebounding battle. All the extra wear and tear put on LeBron James and Rui Hachimura as they absorb Hayes' workload is going to catch up to the team at some point, though. The Lakers need to hope he finds a way to contribute before it's too late.
LeBron brought the energy in Game 2, but the Lakers need his outside shot to start falling
Hating on LeBron has become its own cottage industry over the years, so please know that it's not my intention to do anything that Skip Bayless would ever approve of. The fact remains that the Lakers need even more than LeBron has given them through two games, even if he was much better in Game 2.
When Luka was acquired at the trade deadline, it was understood that at some point, there would be a passing of the torch from "The Kid from Akron" to "The Kid from Slovenia." I'm not sure it was supposed to happen this season, but that's exactly what it looks like.
I mentioned Luka's stats above, but I'll bring them up again for comparison's sake. He has 68 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists through two games, while LeBron has a much more modest 40 points to go along with 16 points and 10 assists.
LeBron shot 37.9 percent from 3 this year, the fourth-best percentage of his 22-year career. Through two games in this series, he's just 2-10, with matching 1-5 lines in both games.
The Lakers need much more than that, especially since a timely LeBron 3 often kickstarts a big run. L.A. has struggled to go on one of their patented scoring binges, and even the one time they did in the first half of Game 2, it was mostly Luka that made it happen, with Gabe Vincent, not LeBron, pitching in a couple of 3s.
If LeBron rediscovers his outside shot, it will stretch the floor for the rest of his teammates and give the Lakers a shot at cracking 100 points against this Minnesota defense that has given them such problems. Can the Lakers win four games in this series while scoring in the 90s each time? Let's be safe and not find out.