In a game that saw little defense on both ends of the floor, the Los Angeles Lakers fell short against the Minnesota Timberwolves, losing 119-120.

Both teams shot an incredible percentage from the field due to the atrocious defense mentioned above. The Lakers shot 53.9 percent, while the Timberwolves hit 57.0 percent of their shots, including 55.6 percent from three-point land.

It’s just amazing how the Lakers continue to play with no effort on defense and continue to execute poorly down the stretch.

The Lakers held on to an 11-point lead late in the first quarter, but they saw that lead evaporate in a matter of minutes. They did, however, control the game for most of the first half, leading by four points at halftime.

Rookie guard Zach LaVine exploded for 20 second quarter points in just 11 minutes. He’s the one who kept the Wolves into the game in the first half, displaying his full potential. LaVine’s first half points were already a new career-high for him.

The third quarter saw a tighter battle between these two bottom tier teams. The Lakers held on to a slight lead throughout the quarter, as the Timberwolves refused to go away. Heading to the fourth and final period with a three-point lead, the Lakers held a slight edge over Minnesota for most of the quarter.

In fact, with 5:03 remaining in the contest, the Lakers opened up an eight-point lead thanks to Nick Young’s firing offense. However, the Timberwolves did not fold too easy. They kept crawling back and tied the game at 115 apiece with 3:01 to go after back-to-back threes by Mo Williams.

The game came down to the wire, as the Timberwolves took a two-point lead with 20 seconds remaining. Though, Kobe Bryant tied the game at 119 after draining an eight-foot jumper. With five seconds on the clock, the Wolves called a timeout. Out of the timeout, they inbounded the ball to Thaddeus Young who drew a foul on Nick Young with two seconds left. Thaddeus hit one of his two costless throws to give Minnesota a 120-119 lead.

The Lakers called a timeout and inbounded the ball to Bryant, who got a clean look from beyond the arc but missed, thus stretching the team’s losing streak to four

Coach Byron Scott was furious after the game. “There’s nobody in this league that we should be looking at like this is an easy win,” Scott said. “We looked at [the Timberwolves] like they were inferior to us…[it was a] lack of focus. Not ready to play.”

Scott’s frustrations are on point and agreeable. This was another game that the Lakers could have won, but they chose to come out lackadaisical and gave very little effort once again. The inconsistency on the defense end is an on-going problem, and the inability to close out games is repetitive.  

The Lakers allowed Zach LaVine to go off for 28 points and five assists on 11-of-14 shooting. The Lakers giving up a career-high to a player of LaVine’s caliber was discussed in the preview of this game by this author. In addition to LaVine, two other players scored over 20 points in this one for the Wolves. Mo Williams recorded a double-double with 25 points and 11 assists on 6-of-8 shooting from downtown, and Thaddeus Young, who has been struggling this season, finished with 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field.

Kobe Bryant shot an efficient percentage this game, as he put in 26 points, five rebounds, five assists, and five steals on 10-of-18 shooting. Jeremy Lin added a double-double with 18 points and 11 assists to go along with four steals, while Wesley Johnson scored a season-high 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting.

With a win, the Timberwolves secure the 14th seed for the time being, as they improve to 4-10. The Lakers now fall two full games behind Minnesota in the standings, as they drop to 3-13.

The Los Angeles Lakers will now look to snap their losing streak against the Eastern Conference’s top seeded Toronto Raptors in the final game of their four-game home stand on November 30. The Minnesota Timberwolves will continue their short West coast trip in Portland on Sunday, as they play host to the Blazers. 

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About the author
Vahan Shakhpazyan
Vahan Shakhpazyan loves the NBA with a passion and has been an avid follower for 18 years. He is a UCR graduate with a BA degree in Creative Writing. The man behind the Facebook page NBA updates.