The Los Angeles Lakers registered a 94-85 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves to even the first-round series 1-1. The Lakers took a 19 point lead in the first quarter as they outscored the opposition by 34-19.
However, midway through the third quarter, the Lakers lead of 22 points was reduced by half and head coach JJ Redick was not a happy man as he teared into the team in timeout.
“What the f— is going on?!” Redick could be heard shouting on the TNT broadcast, with his team leading 62-51 with 7:40 to go in the third. “What the f— are you guys doing? Come on!”
LeBron James said the team was able to pull up their socks after receiving criticism from coach.
“That’s JJ,” LeBron James said of the first-year coach’s outburst. “Obviously we need to listen to the message and not how he’s delivering it. … I thought we responded after that.”
James revealed they had a solid practice session on Monday and they were confident of doing well in the second game.
“We knew yesterday at practice,” James said when asked when he knew the Lakers would be ready. “We had a tough practice yesterday, and we went at it yesterday. One of the best practices we’ve had all year. We kind of knew coming out of that what type of disposition we had to play with.”
Doncic scored 31 points and had nine assists after scoring 37 in Game 1 but could only manage one assist in the series opener.
“Is nine assists good enough for you?” Doncic jokingly said to ESPN as he stood up from the postgame podium after being asked about how he balanced his scoring and passing following Saturday’s loss.
Meanwhile, James had 21 points on 8-for-19 shooting with 11 rebounds and 7 assists, Austin Reaves had 16 points with 5 rebounds and 5 assists, and Rui Hachimura had 11 points with 5 rebounds and 2 steals and thus the Lakers came up with a collective show.
The third game of the series will be played on Friday.
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