Timberwolves 97-87 Lakers (December 13, 2024) Game Recap

On December 14, 2024By Littum

MINNEAPOLIS — – Anthony Edwards scored 23 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 97-87 on Friday night.

Julius Randle added 21 points and Jaden McDaniels scored 18 for Minnesota, which won for the fifth time in six games. Rudy Gobert had a game-high 13 rebounds to go with 12 points.

The Timberwolves are 14-2 against the Lakers at home since the 2015-16 season, including four straight.

Anthony Davis led Los Angeles with 23 points and 11 rebounds, but the Lakers lost for the eighth time in 11 games. Austin Reaves scored 18 points in his first game back after missing five games with a left pelvic contusion, and Max Christie added 15.

Los Angeles had 21 turnovers.

LeBron James missed his second game in a row for the Lakers with soreness in his left foot and was also var away from the team this week due to “personal reasons”. Coach JJ Redick said before the game that he has no idea when James will return.

Takeaways

Lakers: In the last 11 games, Los Angeles is averaging 103.3 points while allowing its opponents to score an average of 113.7 points.

Timberwolves: Defense had been Minnesota’s strong suit during its recent run of success. Los Angeles shot just 38.4%, the third time in four games a Timberwolves foe failed to reach 40%. In Minnesota’s last five wins, no opponent has topped 92 points.

Key moment

Mike Conley missed a 3-pointer for Minnesota and Rui Hachimura got the rebound for Los Angeles. However, he had the ball stolen by Randle, who quickly fed McDaniels for a layup and an 89-82 lead with 2:03 left.

Key state

Averaging 37.5% from deep, Minnesota was just 9-for-32 (28.1%) from 3. The Lakers were 10-of-35 (28.6%) from long range.

The Lakers are at home against the Grizzlies and the Timberwolves travel to the Spurs on Sunday.

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AP NBA: