The Lakers are hosting the Timberwolves for Game 2 of their first round series Tuesday in Los Angeles. In Saturday’s Game 1, Minnesota won 117-95. On DraftKings Sportsbook, the Lakers are a six-point favorite for Game 2 and this contest carries a total of 210.5 points.
Below, I break down Game 2 between the Lakers and Timberwolves and give a pick for the game via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Lakers vs. Timberwolves preview, prediction
The Timberwolves stunned the Lakers on their home floor in Saturday’s Game 1, defeating Los Angeles by 22 points. While a blowout was surprising, Minnesota has been the better team since the All-Star break, ranking fifth in net rating with a 19-8 record, while Los Angeles ranks 15th in net rating with an 18-13 record. Following the Game 1 victory, the Timberwolves are 3-2 against the Lakers this season.
In the Game 1 win for Minnesota, Anthony Edwards had a solid performance with 22 points, but it was Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid who really powered the Timberwolves to the easy victory. McDaniels led the team with 27 points while shooting 11-of-13 from the field and Reid poured in 23 points off the bench while shooting 8-of-12 from the field. McDaniels is a defense-first player who is only averaging 12.2 PPG this season and his outburst in Game 1 was shocking to say the least. Reid is a much more capable offensive player than McDaniels, but this was also an outlier performance to some degree, as this is only the second time in his last 10 games that the bench player has scored 20+ points.
Meanwhile for the Lakers, Luka Doncic was dominant as a scorer with a game-high 37 points, but the guard only finished with one assist on only eight potential assists. Austin Reaves had a solid showing with 16 points and three assists, but LeBron James wasn’t in playoff form, with the future Hall-of-Famer only finishing with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists. Just like Doncic, James only had eight potential assists in the loss, which is well under his average. Not only do both James and Doncic need to be looking for their teammates more, but the players they are passing to simply need to make more shots. As a team, the Lakers finished with a 39.8% field-goal percentage.
The Lakers lost home-court advantage for this series after dropping Game 1 in Los Angeles and Game 2 is simply a must-win for the Lakers, as only 7.4% of teams to go down 0-2 in a playoff series have come back to win the series in NBA history.
Lakers vs. Timberwolves pick, best bet
After an ugly shooting performance in Game 1, the Lakers should bounce back in Game 2 and even this series. Before the Game 1 shocker, Los Angeles was 2-0 at home against the Timberwolves this season and James should do everything in his power to get the Lakers a win tonight. When his team has had the home-court advantage for a playoff series, James’ team has never lost the first two games at home in his career. There have been seven playoff series in James’ career that his team has lost Game 1 at home and all of these teams went on to win Game 2 by an average of 15.1 PPG.
James should have a vintage performance on his home floor and the Timberwolves should have a weaker offensive output, as a secondary player like McDaniels is very unlikely to have another huge performance. Los Angeles is a six-point home favorite for Game 2 and as a home favorite this season, the Lakers own a 25-8 record and they are 21-12 ATS. In this situation, backing Los Angeles to cover this six-point spread is the right call.
