One of the questions for the Timberwolves in this playoff series against the Lakers was how would they respond in a tight game against two stars in LeBron James and Luka Doncic who have thrived in those situations.
The answer Friday night was just fine. Anthony Edwards led a fourth-quarter charge in a 116-104 victory over the Lakers with a superb performance down the stretch. He outplayed James and Doncic in the final minutes as the Wolves sprinted to the finish and took a 2-1 lead in the series. James had 38 for the Lakers while Doncic had 17 on 6-for-16 shooting.
Edwards mixed playmaking with scoring as he finished with 29 points and eight assists. Jaden McDaniels was once again great for the Wolves, as he was in Game 1, with 30 points. His right-corner three with 38.9 seconds to play kicked off the celebration.
The Wolves held a small lead during the fourth as James brought the Lakers back with three threes to make the score 100-99 with 5 minutes, 59 seconds to play. Doncic, who was battling a stomach bug, per ESPN, tied the score at 103 with 4:37 to play as he went at Rudy Gobert in isolation after Gobert subbed back in the game.
After a timeout, Finch went back to a Julius Randle-Naz Reid frontcourt, and Edwards hit a three, but they followed that with a shot-clock violation. Edwards made a good look to hit an open Reid for a 109-103 lead with 3:04 left. Edwards then got by James for a layup and a 11-104 lead.
Edwards was called for a foul on Rui Hachimura with 2:05 to play, but the Wolves reviewed the foul and won, regaining possession in the process. On the Lakers’ next possession, James hit the side of the backboard on a three. The Lakers suddenly went cold after hitting a good chunk of their outside shots most of the night.
Wolves up early
The Wolves came out with a much better offensive start than they had in Games 1 and 2. They scored on their first seven possessions to open the night. They led 32-26 after one. McDaniels looked more like the player he was in Game 1 with a 4-for-5 start to the night for eight points. Everyone got involved in the scoring early on as the Wolves came out with a balanced attack. Edwards looked to get his teammates involved with five points and three assists as the Wolves opened with a 27-19 lead.
On the other end, the Lakers shot well (52% in the first quarter) but committed six turnovers. Doncic had paced each of the first two games with his scoring, but in Game 2 he had five assists in the first quarter. James came out more aggressively on offensive and hit his first three shots. The Wolves crashed the boards effectively in the first quarter and had seven second-chance points to the Lakers’ two.
