After a rough start to the season, the Los Angeles Lakers found their rhythm Friday night, defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves 128-110 in a playoff rematch.
Timberwolves star guard Anthony Edwards matched Doncic early in the first quarter, but couldn’t keep up his red-hot start. Minnesota was firing from tip-off and scored 40 points in the first quarter. Edwards scored 14 of his 31 in that period alone. Minnesota forward Julius Randle, who scored 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and guard Donte DiVincenzo spread the floor for the Timberwolves with early three-point buckets that got Minnesota to a quick 11-point lead.
Doncic was able to keep the Lakers in the game, scoring 23 points in the first quarter, which tied him with Kobe Bryant and Kyle Kuzma for the franchise record for most in an opening quarter.
In the second quarter, the Lakers’ offense and defense completely changed gears. Guard Austin Reaves and forward Rui Hachimura started to score at an efficient rate, with the former Reaves finishing the game with 25 points and the latter tallying 23 points at a 77% clip. Center DeAndre Ayton also contributed 15 points and hauled in eight rebounds, which helped the Lakers chip away at the Timberwolves’ lead. Los Angeles ended the half on a 14-4 run and a 68-63 lead.
The Lakers kept the momentum going in the second half. Reaves continues to find his groove, hitting a three and then a clean layup to give Los Angeles a double-digit lead with three minutes left in the quarter. Reaves also dished dimes the whole game and finished with 11 assists, including a late alley-oop to Hachimura that sent Crypto.com Arena into a frenzy.
The fourth quarter was all Luka Doncic. He opened the fourth with seven points, including a deep three-pointer that stretched the Lakers’ lead to 19. Doncic ended the quarter with eleven points, which brought his game total to just one point shy of 50. He finished the game nearing a triple-double with 11 rebounds and eight assists. His performance was historic, and he became the first player in Lakers history and the fourth in league history to start a season with back-to-back 40-point games. “M-V-P” chants followed Doncic as he left the floor.
Los Angeles shot 59.2% from the field against the Timberwolves and turned the ball over only ten times, a drastic improvement from the first game of the season, where the Lakers turned the ball over 19 times.
The Lakers are now 1-1 on the season, and are set to rematch the Timberwolves on Wednesday.