The first thing that comes to mind when most NBA fans think of the Los Angeles Lakers is an aesthetically pleasing brand of basketball. From Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's sky hook, to Magic Johnson tossing no-look passes on the fast break, to Kobe Bryant throwing alley-oops to Shaquille O'Neal, the Lakers have always been a franchise with big stars and big highlights.
With Luka Dončić and LeBron James leading the way this year, that much is still true, but after a dispiriting Game 1 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in which the Lakers only managed to score 95 points at home, it immediately became clear that L.A. wouldn't be able to Showtime their way through this postseason.
The Lakers have not traditionally been known as a team that's comfortable winning ugly, but that's exactly what they did on Tuesday night. This time, 94 points was enough to win, as their greatly improved defensive effort held the Wolves to 85 points, their lowest point total of the year.
The Lakers have been through the ringer this season. They've dealt with injuries and some pretty seismic roster changes, but have consistently improved since Opening Night. You never know what a team is really made of until they get put in a do-or-die situation though, and although technically Game 2 wasn't a must-win, the fact that NBA teams go on to lose the series 92.6 percent of the time when falling in an 0-2 hole means it's the next best thing.
Lakers fans should take heart in how tough their team played last night. The Wolves looked like the athletically superior team in Game 1, but nearly everything Minnesota did well the first time around, L.A. neutralized in Game 2. Let's look at three things the Lakers proved in evening the series up.
JJ Redick is not overmatched
One of the concerns heading into this series was that the Lakers were going to have to find out the hard way that coaching experience matters in the playoffs. Chris Finch led the Wolves to the Western Conference Finals last year while JJ Redick was doing podcasts. Even though Redick has drawn rave reviews for the job he's done in his rookie season, the playoffs are different, which is why we named that experience edge as one of the reasons Lakers fans should be worried heading into this series.
Those fears weren't allayed in Game 1, as the Lakers failed to make any meaningful adjustments on their way to a 22-point loss. How would Redick respond with a few days off to right the ship? Very well, it turns out.
The job began in the immediate aftermath of Game 1, when Redick challenged his team in his postgame press conference by saying they didn't seem like they were physically ready. It continued in practice on Monday, which LeBron called "one of the best" they've had all year. Then in Game 2, Redick tore into the team when they began to lose their grip on the game, asking them, "What the f*** are you guys doing?" during a third quarter timeout, as reported by ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
Redick hit the right emotional buttons with his guys, but his coaching ability also shone through with how the Lakers were able to turn around nearly every disastrous category from Game 1. They held Minnesota to only six fast break points in Game 2, 19 fewer than in Game 1. They turned a minus-six rebounding disadvantage into a plus-seven win.
The Wolves made 21 3s in Game 1 to account for more than half their points, but the Lakers made it a priority to guard the perimeter in Game 2, and the result was only five makes on 25 attempts.
Redick will need to continue to evolve and adjust as the series goes on, but the way he responded to his first bout of postseason adversity shows that he's not in over his head.
Luka Dončić is still the best player in this series
Basketball is a team game, but the team with the best player still usually comes out on top. The Lakers were favored heading into this series because even though Anthony Edwards is an ascendant talent, L.A. has Luka Dončić. Yes, it still feels strange to say that, but that makes it no less awesome.
Edwards isn't one to back down from anyone, Luka included, but the former Maverick showed in Game 2 that when he's at his best, even Ant-Man can't touch him. For the second game in a row, he led both teams in points, but whereas he registered only one assist to go with his 37 points in Game 1, on Tuesday night he dished out nine.
Luka's nine dimes led both teams, and just for good measure, he also grabbed 12 rebounds, which were also a game high for either side.
Edwards led the league in 3-point makes this season, and he's one of the most explosive athletes in the league, but even he can't exert total control over a game the way Luka can. Luka was able to get any shot he wanted for himself and his teammates all night, and he also got to the line again and again, making all 11 of his attempts there.
When the Lakers traded for Luka, it was seen as a move that would clear a path to high-level contention for the next decade. This year was more up in the air, as it's always difficult to integrate a player, no matter how great he is, at the trade deadline. While it hasn't totally been smooth sailing, there's no doubt that with Luka, the Lakers are a bigger threat to make a deep playoff run than they were with Anthony Davis, even with just over two months to get him and the team on the same page.
The Lakers can win even when they can't outscore teams
Going into the final days of the regular season, there were several possibilities for who would get the No. 6 seed and meet the Lakers in the first round. Of all the options, the Wolves might have been the toughest draw for L.A., because not only have they been playing great basketball down the stretch, they're uniquely suited to give the Lakers problems, especially with their defensive ability.
Counting Games 1 and 2, the Lakers and Wolves have now met six times this season. In four of those games, the Lakers have failed to crack the 100-point mark, a shocking stat in today's NBA for anyone, let alone a team that can fill it up like the Lakers with their trio of scorers and playmakers in Luka, LeBron and Austin Reaves.
To get to Round 2, the Lakers know that they're not going to simply be able to outscore the Wolves. Edwards, Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels are too good on the defensive end to allow that. That means that L.A. is going to have to do the little things to win, and Game 2 showed that they're capable of doing that.
We went over some of those things when talking about the job Redick did, but at the end of the day, it's up to the players to give the effort. Rui Hachimura best exemplified that, as he briefly left the game after slamming his face on the floor. When he returned, he had a mask on, but he quickly ditched it and carried on anyway. His defensive effort throughout the game was key, and Redick praised him for his toughness afterwards, calling him "a warrior."
As Jaxson Hayes has fallen out of favor in the final month of the season and into the playoffs (he's played just 17 minutes combined in both games), Rui is a guy that the Lakers have leaned on to hold down the fort inside, even if he has to play out of position as a small-ball center.
He did his job on Tuesday. Edwards and Julius Randle combined for 52 points (about five above their average), but the rest of the Wolves all failed to reach double figures. Gobert only scored six, and Naz Reid, after a dynamite Game 1 in which he dropped 23, managed only nine. McDaniels came back to earth with eight after a near-perfect shooting night on Saturday.
With Luka and LeBron, the Lakers have to like their chances if it comes down to which team's stars play better. It's the rest of the rotation that could decide this series, and if the final games in this series go the way Game 2 did in that regard, the Lakers are going to make it through.