Lakers drop Game 5 to Timberwolves as season ends in disappointment

LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach JJ Redick on Tuesday described the state of his team as “on edge, as we should be” – a description that could have also carried over into Wednesday night.

Whether it was Redick ending his pregame press conference with a rant in response to a reporter’s question about utilizing his assistant coaches, or the 18,997 in attendance seemingly on the edge of their seats for any positive moment from the Lakers, the tension was running throughout Crypto.com Arena for the Lakers’ win-or-go-home Game 5 matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

But by the tail end of the night, that tension turned into disappointment, with the Lakers falling to the Timberwolves, 103-96, to lose their best-of-seven first-round playoff series in five games, ending LeBron James’ and Luka Doncic’s first season together.

“For me, since my first NBA Finals appearance in 2007, the moment I got an opportunity to be a part of that and taste that feeling, from there on every season that I did not make it to the Finals or did not win a championship was a disappointment,” James said. “So be the same for me, the same offseason of disappointment.”

Doncic (28 points, nine assists, seven rebounds) and James (22 points, seven rebounds, six assists) led the Lakers despite both having to leave the game at certain moments after getting hurt.

But the Lakers didn’t overcome their ball security issues.

Or the Timberwolves, as 7-foot-1 Minnesota center Rudy Gobert (27 points, 24 rebounds, both playoff career highs) and Julius Randle (23 points, 7-of-10 shooting on 2-pointers) ran amok against the Lakers’ intentionally small-ball lineup.

Gobert had contributed just 14 points and 25 rebounds in the series’ first four games combined, but he feasted on Wednesday, shooting 12 for 15 from the field in 39 minutes. His presence helped the Timberwolves win despite missing 40 3-point shots (7 for 47), the most in NBA playoff history.

Minnesota dominated the Lakers on the boards 54-37 and grabbed 18 offensive rebounds. The visitors also had two fewer turnovers (15-13) than the Lakers, helping them win the possession battle – a common thread in the series.

By outmuscling and outsizing the Lakers, the Timberwolves finished with 11 more field-goal attempts (89-78) and eight more free throw attempts (33-25) and, as they have all series, they outscored them in the fourth quarter. Minnesota won the fourth by scores of 23-17, 20-13, 30-20, 32-19 and 22-16 in the series.

“There’s always a mix of disappointment and gratitude,” Redick said. “Certainly disappointed and (this result is) not something that I ever envisioned with this team. Give Minnesota a lot of credit. They’re a really good basketball team, and I think our guys played hard enough and did all the right things.

“We tried to make it work with what we had, and came up a little short.”

Early on, the Lakers didn’t play with the urgency and attention to detail that’s expected from a team in a do-or-die game.

They finished the first quarter, which they trailed 31-22, with six turnovers that directly led to nine Minnesota points, and allowed the Timberwolves, led by Gobert, to grab four offensive rebounds in the first 12 minutes.

The Lakers kept chipping away at the deficit throughout the second and third quarters, eventually breaking through with a 3-pointer from Dorian-Finney-Smith that gave the Lakers their first lead of the game at 78-77 late in the third.

But the Lakers, who shot 42.3% from the field (33 for 78) and 29.7% from 3-point range (11 for 37), didn’t have the shot-making necessary to stave off Minnesota, especially given the extra shots they were giving the Timberwolves.

James and Rui Hachimura (23 points) made late 3-pointers to keep the Lakers in the game, with Hachimura’s 25-footer cutting their deficit to 97-94, but Minnesota outhustled the Lakers down the stretch as they did all series. Mike Conley made a 3-pointer for a 100-94 lead with 1:22 left, his shot ending an 0-for-18 dry spell for the Timberwolves from long range and helping hand the Lakers their third straight loss.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well, but I thought we were the tougher team mentally and physically,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “That’s when it showed itself. We knew we’d been good in fourth quarters against this team all series. We just needed to see a couple of shots go down opportunistically. Guys did a great job surviving the emotions of the game, which was always going to be a tough game.”

The Lakers have advanced beyond the first round just once in five seasons since their 2020 NBA championship in the Florida bubble.

Anthony Edwards had 15 points while shooting 5 for 19 overall (0 for 11 from 3-point range) and grabbed 11 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Timberwolves, who advance to face the winner of Houston’s series with Golden State. The second-seeded Rockets avoided elimination Wednesday, and Game 6 is Friday in San Francisco with the seventh-seeded Warriors leading, 3-2.