Playoffs - Round 1: Lakers Vs. Wolves

Discussion in 'Lakers Discussion' started by JSM, Apr 13, 2025.

  1. lakerjones

    lakerjones Moderator Staff Member

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    Just put Markeef Morris in for five minutes to hunt down McDaniels in pick and roll with Luka. Morris will lay a pick on him he won't be forgetting any time soon.
     
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  2. Zoyd Wheeler

    Zoyd Wheeler - Lakers 6th Man -

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    We have one (T-J III), but he only gets into the last minute of blowouts.

    I try not to harp on the refs, but a lot of you have already said it, so I'm gonna agree: Julius fouls as an offensive player pretty much every time he touches the ball. And he they don't call it. By now it's under my skin. It does bother me, but I suspect: damage: DONE.
     
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  3. pika1708

    pika1708 - Lakers Starter -

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    This is absurd.
    We struggle with the size and physicality of this group, we gotta find a way to battle these guys.

    We have 2 at home now. Winning tomorrow, puts a ton of pressure on them, because game 6 is also a game 7 for them. We need a big win tomorrow
     
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  4. KB24

    KB24 Administrator Staff Member

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    For years now the Lakers seem to compete but fall short in clutch situations.

    The team was gassed at the end and I had no confidence in them overcoming the Wolves.

    Sadly, we might say "bad luck"...but the truth is for the past 15 years, this is what defines the Lakers. Take that one championship in 2020 out, and in the other 14 years its been more or less the same. Try and come up short. The Wolves aren't exactly an amazing team. You must be able to put a foot on their neck early. Instead we got punked in game 1 and its been an uphill battle since.

    Young teams tend to get confidence when they win early. Now you have a young team with a star, who isn't afraid of the moment. Lets keep our fingers crossed. Maybe Bron and Luca can do some magic. As of right now I think we win game 5 and lose game 6. If we win game 6, we will win game 7.
     
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  5. wcsoldier81

    wcsoldier81 - Lakers All Star -

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    They come up short because they can't defend and/or rebound when it matters .

    Lebron was running the same slow garbage offense in fourth quarters in 2020 and bricking long 3s

    The difference ? Lakers never gave up leads because they were a very good defensive team in 2020 .
     
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  6. Khmrp

    Khmrp - Lakers Legend -

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  7. Slick2021

    Slick2021 - Lakers MVP -

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    The new season starts with the draft for me.
     
  8. Ceteris21

    Ceteris21 - Rookie -

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    Do you guys think our starting 5 is too offense heavy?

    Like maybe AR becoming a 6th man and running the second unit?
     
  9. fabfourlakers

    fabfourlakers - Lakers Starter -

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    I hope we see some adjustments tonight. Need more Vando, maybe some Knecht...like SOMETHING has to change
     
  10. karacha

    karacha Moderator Staff Member

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    I guarantee we're not going to see any adjustments tonight. Because we actually play tomorrow.
     
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  11. JSM

    JSM - Lakers Legend -

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    Few overall thoughts from this thing so far:

    And it sounds a bit like an obit, but it's not...not yet at least

    -I don't know about you guys, but I feel like we've lost the series more than the Wolves have won it. We're chin hairs from this being 3-1 in our favor. That's frustrating even if this post-season is house money.

    -That said, props to Minny. Ant has leveled up AGAIN. Didn't expect that. Randle reached a gear I was certain he didn't have. Finch has coached a strong series. This is a team who's awful statistically in the crunch time and they're finding ways to kick our a** every 4th Q. They've managed to dictate the terms of engagement and prevailed.

    -Reid is the Laker killer, he's been the modern Troy Hudson for them but like 4 feet taller. I knew he was going to destroy us, but I didn't think he'd singlehandedly outplay our bench. Our role players have been shameful.


    -Refs have been flat out bad. Irwin summed it to some version of this: If you're the more physical team and foul on every play, they're not going to call you for a foul every trip down the floor. We foul less, we're less physical so when we do foul, they call it (seemingly) more often.

    -I expected a lot more out of our offense. Like I said in the JJ thread, I think I underestimated the need for the guys to get a camp under their belts together. We flipped the entire construction of our team too late to burn the playbook and start over at day 1. So we've gotten a lot of rudimentary my turn/your turn, iso ball, matchup hunting.
     
  12. 432J

    432J - Lakers All Star -

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    and people wonder why redick played his same starting 5 for an entire half with how atrocious the bench has been this series

    we all knew reid was the wolves x factor, but randle has been the biggest surprise for me. didn't think he had it in him to up his game to this level in the playoffs. he and mcdaniels have been doing as they please down low with the lakers lack of a big

    refs have missed some calls, but they're not the reason the series is 3-1 in minny's favor. although it's safe to say that if some of these calls had gone the lakers way, you'd find the usual morons online saying it's rigged. but since minny's up, crickets
     
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  13. lakerjones

    lakerjones Moderator Staff Member

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    Well I agree with most of the post but I would argue that the refs are exactly the reason this series is 3-1 and not tied up right now. Not calling a trip foul on McDaniels with 33 seconds on Luka as the NBA admitted they missed cost us a probable one point lead down the stretch. Then take back that absurd foul on LeBron on the overturned out of bounds play and we had a one point lead and possession with 9 seconds left. The officiating changed the outcome of a pivotal game four and screwed us for the series.
     
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  14. abeer3

    abeer3 - Lakers Legend -

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    yeah, as 432j said, imagine if the teams were reversed, and ant was tripped in the backcourt and we won the game. just wall to wall coverage on it.
     
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  15. JSM

    JSM - Lakers Legend -

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  16. karacha

    karacha Moderator Staff Member

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    They will have to score that much for us to win this, for sure. Well, depending on Reaves, of course. Maybe he'll show up tonight, it's hard to predict.
     
  17. wcsoldier81

    wcsoldier81 - Lakers All Star -

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    Game 5 doesn't matter much as I expect a win .

    Game 6 will the be the key .. We know Lakers can make it close in Sota , they just have to clean the playoffs virgin mistakes they made in Game 3 and Game 4 both on the court and on the bench
     
  18. KuzmoBall17

    KuzmoBall17 - Lakers Starter -

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    Lakers in 7 ?
    A thriller between the Lakers and Timberwolves scored one of the largest opening round NBA playoff audiences since the current media rights deal began in 2002.

    Sunday’s Lakers-Timberwolves first round NBA playoff Game 4 averaged 7.35 million viewers on ABC, up 32% from Clippers-Mavericks last year

    Game 4 delivered the second-largest audience of the NBA season, with the top spot still belonging to Lakers-Warriors on ABC and ESPN Christmas Day (7.91M).
     
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  19. karacha

    karacha Moderator Staff Member

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    Normally I am very cautious, but I definitely expect a win tonight. Don't have a clue what happens after that, but we really should win G5.
     
  20. 432J

    432J - Lakers All Star -

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    they'll win if they can contain at least two of mcdaniels, randle, or reid. edwards will do his thing either way. unfortunately easier said than done without a real big
     

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