Luka Doncic had 31 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, and Los Angeles Lakers even defended themselves from their first round series with the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 94-85 victory in game 2 on Tuesday night.
LeBron James scored 21 points and Austin Reaves added 16 for third seed Lakers, who recovered from their loss of burst in game 1 when jumping to an early advantage of 22 points and hanging through a physical phosphorus.
Julius Randle scored 27 points and Anthony Edwards had 25 for the Timberwolves, who lost most of their offensive fluidity of their impressive victory in the opening of the series.
James added 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers, who never lost control of a chippy game and choppy with 46 combined personal offenses and multiple video reviews. James and Rui Hachimura took hard shots on their faces, and hashimura played the second half in a mask.
Game 3 is Friday night in Minneapolis.
The Wolves reached a franchise record 21 3 Petros while venting the Lakers 117-95 in game 1 despite 37 Doncic points. The angels responded with a more compromised defense and another great maiden game, while the wolves could not recover their offensive fluidity to the fourth quarter.
Los Angeles Tok a 19 -point advantage in the first quarter of game 2 with 16 Doncic points, who exploded isolates at the Rudy Gobert center. James’s first triple put the Lakers 43-21 in the second quarter.
Los Angeles led 83-65 in the first minute of the room, but Minnesota closed their nine-point gap, while the Lakers were seven minutes between field goals. Wolves could still not gather enough offensive.
Associated Press reports.
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