JJ Redick doesn’t believe his Lakers were prepared for the Minnesota Timberwolves’ physicality in Los Angeles’ series-opening blowout defeat Saturday.
“It’s not to say our guys weren’t ready to withstand a playoff-level basketball game,” the Lakers head coach said following the 22-point loss in L.A. “We were mentally ready. I thought our spirit was right. I thought even when they made runs, our huddles were great. The communication was great. I’m not sure physically we were ready, if that makes sense.
“Really, when they started playing with a lot of thrust and physicality, we just didn’t respond immediately to that. And then that stretch from the start of the second through four-to-five minutes to go in the third, we lost that stretch by 34. So that’s a blowout.”
The span in question resulted in the Timberwolves’ largest lead of the game at 27 after a Naz Reid three made it 88-61 with 4:23 left in the third.
The Lakers did mount a 17-6 run to close out the frame. However, Minnesota opened the fourth by making its first three field goals, including a Julius Randle 3-pointer immediately after the Lakers had trimmed the gap to 12 – the closest Redick’s squad came in the final quarter.
LeBron James suggested the Timberwolves’ imposing style of play caught the Lakers off guard, but he said they shouldn’t have any excuses come Game 2 back in L.A. on Tuesday.
“We know when you play this Minnesota team, you gotta be physical,” James told reporters, courtesy of Mark Medina of Sportskeeda. “That’s what they bring to the table.
“Maybe it took us one playoff game to now get a feel for it and know to up our physicality, to up our intensity … because that’s just the way they play. We should be more than prepared for that on Tuesday night.”
The 22-point loss is the Lakers’ largest in the playoffs since the Golden State Warriors defeated them by 27 in Game 2 of the 2023 Western Conference semifinals. The last time they suffered a heavier margin of defeat in a series opener was in 2012 when they were blown out by 29 by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the conference semis.
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