The Los Angeles Lakers returning home on Friday night, getting Anthony Davis back in the lineup against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
It was an important game for the Lakers as they continue to inch their way back in the postseason conversation, but they were just too undermanned without LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell and suffered a 110-102 loss.
The Lakers got off to a quick start with Troy Brown Jr. hitting a 3-pointer and Davis scoring inside, although Anthony Edwards responded with five quick points of his own to tie the game at seven.
Malik Beasley got in on the action by connecting from deep, and then Brown hit another. After Davis ran the floor and dunked in transition, L.A. jumped out to an 18-12 lead, forcing a Minnesota timeout.
Davis continued to attack the paint at will, getting Rudy Gobert in early foul trouble. Davis had 16 first-quarter points and L.A. went into the second leading 34-33.
Rui Hachimura got going early in the second with six straight points for the Lakers. Unfortunately though, Davis got in foul trouble of his own, picking up his third midway through the quarter. The Timberwolves then heated up from 3 to take a 51-44 lead.
The Lakers responded out of a timeout with Mo Bamba scoring and Beasley drilling a corner 3. Jarred Vanderbilt then hit one of his own with Bamba being fouled down low for a four-point play, tying things back up. The Lakers eventually went into the halftime locker room with a slim 56-55 deficit.
Minnesota scored six straight points to begin the third quarter before Beasley got the Lakers on the board with a putback.
After the Lakers fell down by double digits, Davis got back to attacking the basket with force to get his team back in it. Gobert picked up his fourth foul, which meant that Minnesota have zero rim protection to finish out the third.
Edwards also picked up his fourth foul, but his team still went into the fourth with an 83-76 lead with L.A. unable to close the third on a run.
The Timberwolves got hot from 3 again to start the fourth, building their lead back to 10. With the game on the verge of getting out of hand, Davis and Beasley drilled back-to-back 3s to start a 10-1 run to get L.A. within four.
Edwards hit a big 3 for his team to quiet the crowd for a second, although Davis immediately responded with one of his own.
The Lakers got within three in the final minute before Mike Conley hit a big 3 to give his team some breathing room. L.A. then missed on the other end before Conley scored again to seal the victory.
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