The Lakers correspond to Wolves' physics to a series that will not be won by playing pretty

Los Angeles – Austin Reaves said it had succinctly – The Lakers were punished in match 1 of their first round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

When players and coaches talk about playing a game on their conditions, being punked is the first on the list of unacceptable terms, in large daring letters. So, while Logic said that the Los Angeles Lakers were even going to improve this series, the how the end result was just as important.

Real playoffs arrived at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday, the war scars obvious in the Lakers 94-85 victory.

Luka Dončić struck the ground more than a few times, even saying that he had been launched by Jaden McDaniels on a mixture in the fourth quarter.

LeBron James was inadvertently struck in the face by the murderer of Timberwolves Julius Randle after a firing in the painting – and the basket was agitated.

Rui Hachimura was hit in the face, tried a mask before throwing him away, then tried another, and the Lakers coach JJ Redick said he would probably get x -rays after the match.

This is life in these NBA qualifiers, where the physics League has been perceptible. Officials are swallowing their whistles more and players must play in touch rather than obtaining bruises from large companies and traveling trips.

Perhaps the long layout has injured the Lakers, or maybe they were not physically prepared for what the playoffs are-a more likely conclusion.

When the Lakers had a lull, their coach was right there with salts with a verbal smell – the explanatives and frustration were captured on the camera, but the message was received in the third quarter.

“It was not frustration, just coach,” said Redick. “On the horizon, it was built. I just wanted to make sure everyone was on the same wavelength.”

The home team responded by pressing the advance at 20 with a 9-0 race. James jokingly said that Redick “goes thick from time to time. We must understand that that's not like that he says, but what he says.”

It was the alarm that blows after pressing the rehearsal button for 10 minutes, and Redick did not want this team to get comfortable.

Timberwolves have no problem playing this way, they are terms that they are welcome. But Tuesday's match was anything but comfortable for them, and they should have expected this level of response from the Lakers.

Dončić led the Lakers with 31 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists while James scored 21 with 11 rebounds and seven assists, a makeshift turn of match 1 when the ball has glued as long as Dončić had only one delay.

They jumped on the wolves early, perhaps feeling satisfaction with the flight of the advantage of the field at home in match 1. But there was despair, recognition that despite Dončić and James like two talents from another world, they cannot win a beauty contest here.

“We had the same game plan,” said Dončić. “We didn't really change much. It was just a question whether we were going to be more physical or not. I think we showed it and we were there for 48 minutes.”

Their staff do not allow them to win regularly enough, and if they want to survive this series and to any other, it will have to be won in this way. The total offensive for Lakers has not changed at all, and they have only 97 points on average during their four regular season meetings, so it is a sample size large enough to show that the offensive explosions are unlikely.

The offensive sometimes slows down while the Lakers were trying to exploit Rudy Gobert on an island defensively against Dončić, Reaves and James, but Gobert has generally behaved well, and that is something to watch over the series.

The chess match between Redick and Timberwolves coach Chris Finch began, but the level of effort was a prerequisite for the first two games.

“They play hard as S ***,” said Reaves. “And if you do not meet this physicity with physics, you saw the result, and the accent put in the night was to play hard.”

This applies to all the other highly contested series in these qualifying series – the Grind will win between Denver and the Clippers, the grain will also have its signature everywhere in the inclination of New York and Detroit.

It is therefore just to have a place at this table, and the Lakers were determined to make life more difficult for Anthony Edwards, Naz Reid and McDaniels.

Edwards instructed his teammates with a two -handed dunk on Jaxson Hayes in the second half, but nothing was easy because it was the terms the Lakers allowed.

They took what the defense gave them and the defense did not give them anything.

The Lakers only granted 38% and after all these bricks did not give up an offensive rebound.

These easy passes for corner 3 were not found – Reid had more mistakes than baskets after terrorized the Lakers in the opener and McDaniels admirably competed but found himself unable to duplicate his match 1.

The Timberwolves only made five triples after hitting a franchise record 21 at the opening. And even when they made a race, turning a 22 -point deficit to make the Lakers sweat a bit, they couldn't tighten up long enough to really threaten.

James slipped behind Edwards into the transition and cooked the ball, leading to a lay-up with 2:40 on the left which gave the Lakers an advance of 92-81, a certain breathing room and interrupting a critical momentum.

“They had figures. I was able to sneak into the hindsight on the right side,” said James. “Capable of using my athletics and my intelligence. Reach the ball before it can see me in its dead angle and go from one ocean to another. This type of flight, this type of game, they could have cut it to (seven).”

James is where there are more achievements in decline than what is perhaps in his windshield. But it can get there in a few moments, it can make critical games when the game calls, even when it does not have the most polished offensive performance.

It is the luxury of having Dončić, for one. But also James realizing that there is only a lot of his body – Reaves tried to throw an alley on a break with which the 2009 version would have brought the house back, but James did not even load his legs of 40 years to go to the penthouse.

He fought with Randle these evenings, then continuing the young dollars – admitting that he was tired of dog after arrival.

One thing that seems clear after two games, it looks like a long dance in the mud.

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