Jaden McDaniels scored 30 points, Anthony Edwards had 29, and the Minnesota Timberwolves finished strong for a 116-104 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series on Friday night in Minneapolis.
Julius Randle added 22 points for Minnesota, which took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo came off the bench to chip in 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Game 4 will be Sunday in Minneapolis.
“We’ve got to come out and be aggressive,” Edwards said about the Timberwolves attempting to take a 3-1 series lead. “I’ve got to be ultra aggressive every game, and we’ll be able to get it done.”
LeBron James netted 38 points on 13-for-21 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Los Angeles. Austin Reaves scored 20 points, thanks largely to five 3-pointers, and Luka Doncic scored 17 points but made only 6 of 16 shots from the field and 2 of 8 from 3-point range. Doncic also had five of Los Angeles’ 19 turnovers but contributed eight assists and seven rebounds.
“He’s moving better,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said about James. “It seems like he’s getting healthier by the day.”
The Timberwolves outscored the Lakers 62-46 in the second half.
Doncic drove toward the rim and made a step-back jumper to even the score at 103-all with 4:37 to go. Los Angeles had trailed 100-93 after Reid knocked down a 3-pointer with 7:31 remaining.
The Timberwolves built their lead back to seven points in the next couple minutes.
Edwards put Minnesota back on top 106-103 with a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 4:19 to go. Reid followed with a 3-pointer from the left wing to make it 109-103.
After Reaves made one of two free throws to cut the deficit to 109-104, Edwards took control once again. He drove against James and finished with a layup to increase the Timberwolves’ lead to 111-104 with 2:18 remaining.
Edwards then set the home crowd into hysterics when he dribbled between his legs and stepped back for a long jump shot to make it 113-104 with 1:06 left.
“I just knew I had to try to figure it out and lead my team to a win,” Edwards said. “I hadn’t been playing to the best of my ability in the first two games, so I was just trying to figure out how to get in my spots and be efficient.”
Rui Hachimura missed a 3-pointer on the opposite end for the Lakers, and McDaniels added to the late surge with a 3-pointer from the right corner to make it 116-104 with 39.1 seconds left.
The Timberwolves led 86-84 at the end of the third quarter.
An 8-0 run early in the third quarter allowed Minnesota to overtake the Lakers. Edwards and Randle hit back-to-back 3-pointers to punctuate the run, which ended when James scored on an alley-oop dunk to pull Los Angeles within 67-65.
Edwards provided a highlight-reel play to give the Timberwolves a 76-72 edge with 4:39 left in the third quarter. He drove the baseline and soared past a leaping Doncic for a dunk.
“He just got into the teeth of our defense too much,” Redick said. “The fact is we don’t have quote-unquote rim protection. So if we give up blow-bys, we’re going to give up something. We’re going to give up a 3 or we’re going to give up a shot from him at the rim.”
The Lakers led 58-54 at the half.
–Field Level Media
