Timberwolves drew 50% from the three -point line to inflict a heavy defeat at the Los Angeles N ° 3 Lakers in the opening match of their western conference eliminatory series.
Jaden McDaniels collected 25 points with nine rebounds, and Anthony Edwards added 22 points, eight rebounds and nine assists while the Timberwolves du Minnesota on a visit won a 117-95 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the opening of their series of Playoff series from the West Conference to the first round.
Naz Reid scored 23 points and Julius Randle had 16 as a seeded n ° 6 while the Timberwolves improved at 5-0 in the games in the first round in the last two seasons.
The Minnesota pulled 51.2% of the word on Saturday and spent 21 out of 42 from three points while continuing its success since the end of the regular season, when it closed with a file of 17-4.
“He was only going out with confidence,” said McDaniels in the ABC broadcast. “I know that all my teammates trust me. [Edwards] Always tells me: “Pull the ball whatever happens, miss or do”, and that’s what I did tonight. »»
On an ideal night, the Timberwolves saw Edwards go to the locker room at the end of the third quarter with an apparent injury to the left leg before his return to the fourth quarter. Reid was also injured late in the match.
Luka Doncic scored 37 points with eight rebounds, and LeBron James added 19 points for striptes n ° 3, which pulled 39.8% of the soil and lacked energy present after Doncic was acquired in a February trade in Dallas Mavericks.
Austin Reaves collected 16 points after a slow start for Los Angeles, which was upgraded 25-6 on the fast break and 43-13 points in bench points.
Match 2 of the series is scheduled for Tuesday in Los Angeles.
The Lakers had the first quarter, taking an advance of 28-21 before the Timberwolves took care of the second quarter to take a 59-48 advance at halftime. Minnesota pulled 54.2% in the second quarter while scoring 38 points.
The Timberwolves punctuated their domination of the second quarter when Donte Divincenzo made a three points of 30 feet in the buzzer at halftime.
The Timberwolves continued their push in the second half, opening onto a race of 11-0 to take an advance of 70-48 within 2 minutes of the third quarter.
The Minnesota had an advance of 88-64 when Edwards landed hard after a trip to the basket and returned to the locker room with 2:58 minutes to play in the third quarter. He returned to the match with 10:57 minutes remaining in the match.
Reid left with 9:26 minutes to play after taking an inadvertent elbow at the head of the Lakers Vanderbilt handkerchief, but the Timberwolves easily held the 22 -point competition.
During the previous playoff matches on Saturday, the Indiana Pacers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 117-98, the New York Knicks overcome the Detroit Pistons 123-112, and the Denver Nuggets won a thriller in overtime against the Los Angeles Clippers 112-110.
