Hey everyone, it’s L.A. Times writer Dan Woike, welcome to the Lakers newsletter, a once-a-week look into the team Netflix comedy “Running Point” is loosely based on. Nothing funny about the first two games of the Lakers’ postseason, eight quarters of basketball that have been incredibly physical, mostly rhythmless and incredibly even.
Yet there’s one thing the Lakers can do to make things a little bit easier. Let’s examine it.
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Score the basketball
After the Lakers lost the series opener to Minnesota on Saturday, they had only two things they needed to fix. That was the good news.
The bad news? The two things were the defense and the offense.
The Lakers were able to even the series Tuesday night with a mostly dominant defensive performance in which they were able to play as hard and as physical against Minnesota while doing it smarter and more intentionally.
It was an A-plus response on the defensive side.
Yet the reality that’s been hammered home is that the Lakers still haven’t cracked the other half of the code, the offensive side of the ball, where their 94 points Tuesday were enough — but far from optimal.
In six games against the Timberwolves this season, the Lakers have failed to exceed 95 points four times, including both playoff meetings. Their effective field-goal percentage, a metric that accounts for threes being worth more than twos, never has been 50% against Minnesota. They’ve been below 50% 17 times this season — and six (yes, SIX) have been against Minnesota.
“I think when we were organized in the right spots, we did … we ran some good stuff. And frankly, yeah, I thought we missed some open threes,” coach JJ Redick said. “[Austin Reaves] got some great looks. So other than just a couple disorganized plays we played good offense tonight.”
To be fair, Redick gave that answer in response to the viral, rage-driven timeout he took in the third quarter that he called “just coaching,” but anyone who heard him would’ve sworn he was “just cursing.”
There are plenty of four-letter words that apply to what’s happened when the Lakers have tried to put points on the board.
In two games of the playoffs, the Lakers’ first-quarter offense has been terrific — 131.9 points per 100 possessions. In the second it drops to 100 points per 100 possessions. In the third it’s back up to 120.5 but in the fourth it craters to an NBA-worst 73.2.
So what’s happening?
Lakers guard Luka Doncic gets his chest into Timberwolves forward Julius Randle as he tries to drive to the basket during a physical Game 2.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
One, Minnesota really can defend.
“You can start with them having really good individual defenders. Jaden McDaniels is a problem on that end of the floor. Ant’s a problem on that end of the floor,” Reaves said, referring to Anthony Edwards. “Nickeil [Alexander-Walker]. You can go through the whole line. Rudy [Gobert] does a good job of protecting the paint.”
Luka Doncic has been able to put points on the board in the first quarter. He was more of a solo act in Game 1 while Game 2 was more about the Lakers in total playing in a better offensive rhythm.
Another issue in this series is pretty bad shooting from the Lakers. Reaves has struggled from three despite a flurry in the third quarter of Game 1. He’s made only three of 14 from three. LeBron James is just two of 10. Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith are a combined five for 15. When Doncic debuted in February, the Lakers were nearly a 38% three-point-shooting team. They’re 21 for 70 against Minnesota, with everyone outside of Doncic making only 27% of their looks.
“I thought we had some great looks tonight. I know a lot of my shots in the fourth quarter were great looks that just didn’t go,” James said. “If we can continue to get great looks like that, I think we believe in our percentages. But we gotta continue to work the habits. We gotta continue to work the habits and continue to shoot the ball with confidence.”
Maybe this is true. Or maybe their offensive struggles are a cost they have to pay to give as much as they’ve given on the defensive side of the ball.
As the Lakers get ready for a massive Game 3 on Friday in Minneapolis, they know they’ve got to get their offense on track. But as they’ve seen time and time against these Timberwolves, that isn’t going to be easy.
On trial
Got seven minutes to spare? Doncic would like your attention.
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In a time when everything in our being tells us to skip through commercials, Doncic and Nike have produced a mini-movie in which he’s in court — and not on it.
“Bad Luka” is Jordan Brand’s ambitious campaign for the fourth version of Doncic’s signature shoes, a spot shot over two days and directed by “Eastbound and Down” co-creator Jody Hill.
Bad Luka; good ad.
Song of the week
“Skyway” by The Replacements
An ode to the floating skywalk that shields people from the frigid Minneapolis winters is this week’s choice. So the Skyway is a connected walkway throughout downtown Minneapolis that links office buildings and shops and hotels. Funny story — my first trip there was when I was covering the Clippers for the OC Register and my current co-worker Brad Turner was on the Clips for The Times. I was fighting off a brutal virus, fever, chills, aches and more. Well, BT told me I didn’t need to bring my jacket with me to the game (I was sweating like crazy) because we never had to walk outside. We covered the game, I survived, and as we walked back to the Skyway to head to the hotel, we learned it was locked. And it was like minus-10 degrees outside. The lesson? Don’t trust BT. Or the Skyway.
In case you missed it
Lakers win a physically demanding Game 2 to even series with Timberwolves
Lakers found true grit just when they needed it and silenced their critics
Mavericks GM Nico Harrison ‘didn’t quite know’ how important Luka Doncic was to Dallas fans
Lakers confident ‘winning on small details’ will power series comeback against Minnesota
‘We’ll get better.’ Lakers vow to improve after blowout Game 1 loss to Timberwolves
After a Game 1 meltdown, the Lakers should still win their series but must adapt fast
Luka Doncic had an epic playoff moment last year. Here’s why it could happen again