The Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves each go for back-to-back wins when they tip off against one another Saturday night in Minneapolis.
Los Angeles is coming off a 133-112 rout Thursday over the Charlotte Hornets. That marked the second victory in three games for the Lakers, who have stumbled since winning the NBA in-season tournament and hope that they have put a recent slump behind them.
Minnesota is coming off a 118-110 win over the Dallas Mavericks. The victory improved the Timberwolves’ record to 23-7, best in the Western Conference.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham said he expected to have stars LeBron James (knee) and Anthony Davis (ankle) fully available for a tough duo of road games against Minnesota and the New Orleans Pelicans. The two players are listed as questionable for Saturday’s game.
“Those guys are highly competitive, and it’s two teams that are going to be right in the mix,” Ham said. “One is at the top of the Western Conference. One is surging.
“So I expect those guys to have themselves ready and available. I don’t know if a minute restriction applies, or a minute zone applies, when you’re dealing with this high-level basketball to finish the calendar year.”
The Lakers will go up against a Timberwolves squad led by Anthony Edwards, who is coming off a season-high 44-point performance against Dallas. Edwards is averaging a career-best 25.9 points per game while shooting 45.6 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from beyond the arc.
Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns is averaging 21.6 points and 9.3 rebounds. Fellow big man Rudy Gobert is averaging a double-double with 12.9 points and 12 boards.
On the opposite end of the court, Minnesota must try to find a way to slow the Lakers’ talented veterans. James, who turns 39 on Saturday, is averaging 25.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.4 assists. Davis is averaging 24.9 points while pulling down 12.3 rebounds per game.
The matchup also will mark a reunion for D’Angelo Russell, who spent parts of four seasons with the Timberwolves before they traded him to the Lakers last season.
The 27-year-old Russell is averaging 15.1 points and 6.2 assists in 31 games this season. He is shooting 46.8 percent from the field and 39 percent from 3-point range, which is well above his career averages of 42.8 and 36.3.
Despite their recent success, the Timberwolves drew criticism from coach Chris Finch after their latest win against Dallas. Finch thought his players were too sloppy on offense, and he warned against the dangers of getting complacent or forming bad habits as the season progressed.
“Generally, this team has been very mature,” Finch said. “But we’ve got to grow up offensively. It’s time.”
Timberwolves players understood their coach’s criticism.
“I think that’s a good sign, honestly,” Timberwolves forward Kyle Anderson said.
“Because even with not playing as well as we should or not playing our best, we’re still able to find a way to win. … It could get scary once we finally figure it out.”
–Field Level Media