Lakers beat Timberwolves 108-102 in overtime at play-in tournament

The NBA play in tournament started last night, with the 8th seed Atlanta Hawks defeating the 7th seed Miami Heat. The Hawks are moving on to play the 2nd seed Boston Celtics. The Heat play the winner of Bulls against Raptors, and the victorious team plays the 1st seed Bucks. In the second game last night, the Lakers defeated the Timberwolves by a score of 108-102 in an overtime thriller at Crypto.com arena. Los Angeles advances and plays the second seed Grizzlies, while Minnesota plays the winner of Pelicans vs. Thunder.

The NBA Play In Tournament was introduced in 2020 in the pandemic season. the current format of the tournament has the 9th seed team host the 10th seed team for a elimination game, while the 7th seed and 8th seed play for a spot in the 7th seed. The loser of the 7th and 8th seed game plays the winner of the 9th and tenth seed game for a spot of the 8th seed. This happens in both the east and west conferences, and is the preliminary to the playoff season.

With last nights win, the Los Angeles Lakers officially clinched the 7th seed spot. The game was down to the wire for the Lakers, who took it to OT.

Laker fans all across USC expressed their frustration last night, one of them being Daniel Quintero, a Biomedical Engineering major.

QUINTERO: It’s a pretty card game up and down. I we were down 15 at one point. It just felt like it was nearly over. But I feel like a second half, especially that fourth quarter, we really like decided to actually play our game. So yeah, satisfied with the result, but it was a lot ups and downs.

The game’s overtime aspect was caused by a foul by Lakers center Anthony Davis on the literal last second of the game. The foul gave the Timberwolves the chances at three free throws, which gave them the opportunity to tie the game and send it into OT.

QUINTERO: I was like, Oh my God, we hit three. Then that last part, it was pretty clear. I mean, if you look at the play where Davis fouled, it was a foul. It was just it was the don’t play. I don’t do that. He either side of the backboard in the end I was like yeah but yeah that overtime we had all the momentum.

However, the Lakers ended up pulling through and closing the game with the 108-102 win. They will face off the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday at noon in Memphis.

For Annenberg Media, I’m Spencer Cline.