The Los Angeles Lakers will take on the Minnesota Timberwolves at home tonight after losing to the New Orleans Pelicans in their last game of a three game road trip. Steve Nash will be back in the starting line-up after sitting out against the Pelicans and Chris Kaman will continue to start in place of Shawne Williams. The Lakers face a tough assignment in Kevin Love who has been averaging monster numbers this season that include 27.2 points and 14.7 rebounds per game. Pau Gasol has struggled the last few games and will look to have a strong game to avoid a two game losing streak and help push the Lakers into winning their 24th consecutive game over the Timberwolves.
First Quarter
The Lakers get off to a slow start missing their first two shots but Pau Gasol get the first shot to go in to put the Lakers on the board. The Timberwolves were off to a slow start as well missing their first few shots before connecting on a layup and a three pointer. After missed shots by both Chris Kaman and Nick Young they both get a couple of shots to go down to give them their first points of the game. Kevin Love hits his second 3-pointer of the game as the Wolves begin to heat up. Young gets a long jumper to go down but Kevin Martin responds by hitting one of his own. Gasol gets himself going with a small hook shot but Love continues to shoot the ball well hitting his third three pointer on the other end. The Lakers get their second turnover of the game and it leads to another three pointer by the Wolves before a timeout is called. The Lakers find themselves down by nine.
Out of the time out the Wolves start where they left off with another three pointer by Love. Gasol gets another hook shot to go down giving him six points in the game but the Lakers cannot pick it up on defense as the Wolves get another long jumper to go down. With most of the Laker starters on the bench the Wolves continue to show more energy getting a steal that leads to a jump shot by Martin who now has 16 points. The Lakers cannot get going offensively with another missed shot by Xavier Henry and the team is 6-19 from the field. A turnover by Farmar leads to another bucket by the Wolves. Jordan Hill gets a shot to go down off an assist by Meeks but hits a three pointer right after. The Lakers start to show some fight getting two steals with Farmar hitting a layup and going to the line on the next possession. The quarter comes to an end with the Wolves leading the Lakers 47-23.
Second Quarter
A bad start to the quarter with a bad pass by Farmar that leads to two points for the Wolves. Meeks gets the first three pointer to go down for the Lakers and makes a layup on the next possession. The Wolves have cooled off a bit while the Lakers’ second unit is showing a lot more aggressiveness than the starting unit. Out of a timeout Henry hits a jump shot to give him his first points of the game. Love turns it over and Farmar takes the ball inside missing a layup but it is put back in by Hill. The Lakers get a break with Martin missing an easy layup. Henry aggressively drives into the paint where he is fouled but he misses both free throws. Both teams are running the floor but looking sloppy as they miss shots close to the rim until Brewer gets a layup in for the Wolves. Gasol gets a running hook shot to give him eight points in the game. Steve Blake hits a three pointer bring the lead down to 18. Pekovic gets an offensive rebound and hits a layup while Blake hits a jump shot giving him eight points. A turnover by Kaman leads to a dunk by Love who now has 20 points. Kaman hits a jump shot off a pass by Gasol before a timeout is called.
The Lakers come out of the timeout giving up a jump shot and turning the ball over two times with one ending in a dunk by Brewer. Gasol gets his second turnover of the game giving the Lakers 10 turnovers in the game. The Wolves get a layup and a free throw off the turnover. Blake gets a three pointer to go down with the clock winding down. The Wolves turn the ball over and Young throws down a dunk. Another turnover by the Wolves as the half comes to an end with Minnesota ahead 67-48.
Third Quarter
Kevin Love gets the quarter started attempting a three pointer but Gasol comes over to block it. Young misses a shot on the other end and the Lakers do not get back defensively with Pekovic getting an easy layup. Kaman makes a move to the basket and misses with Gasol getting fouled trying to get the rebound. Kaman tries to go to the basket again but loses the mall for another Laker turnover. The Lakers break down defensively and the Wolves get an easy drive to the basket. Kaman turns the ball over again giving the Lakers twelve turnovers and the Wolves are on a 7-0 run. Kaman hits a jump shot off an assist by Blake. The Wolves get consecutive jump shots while Blake hits his third three pointer of the game. Martin gets a layup before a timeout is called and the Wolves are just outplaying the Lakers.
Out of the time out gets a three pointer to go down but the Lakers still trail by 34. Gasol shows some defense getting three straight blocks but Pekovic returns the favor blocking a layup attempt by Williams. Blake gets his fourth three pointer and hits a jump shot to lead the Lakers in scoring with 16 points. Hill gets his seventh rebound of the game and Williams hits a three pointer on the offensive end. The Lakers play good defense but Martin still gets a three pointer to go with the shot clock winding down. Both teams exchange buckets and then also turn the ball over before Meeks dunks the ball. The Lakers are showing a lot of effort with Blake hitting another three and forcing a turnover. Meeks gets to the line and hit two free throws before the quarter ends with the Lakers trailing 90-76.
Fourth Quarter
The Lakers open the quarter with a missed layup by Henry while the Wolves get a layup to go down. Hill gets a hook shot but on the other end the Wolves are not slowing down hitting another three pointer. The Wolves turn the ball over stepping out of bounds and the Lakers take advantage with a nice pass by Henry leading to a dunk by Johnson. Rubio gets his 13th assist as he passes the ball to Love who makes a layup. Henry gets a dunked block and the Barea hits a jumper for the Wolves before a timeout and the Wolves are up by 20.
Hill travels turning the ball over out of the timeout and the Wolves take advantage getting a layup on their end. The Lakers cannot get anything going offensively missing consecutive shots. Wolves continue to have their way with Barea getting in the paint for another layup. Johnson hits a three pointer off a pass by Blake. Brewer responds with a three of his own. Gasol tries to work his way inside but misses and is now 4-11 from the field. Gasol turns the ball over but Meeks gets it backs and passes it to Williams for the layup. Pekovic gets called for a 3-second violation and Gasol gets fouled but only gets one free throw to go down. The reserves for both teams and the Timberwolves win 113-90.
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