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‘King James’ had 30 points and 10 rebounds for Los Angeles as they claimed seventh seed in the first Western Conference play-in game
In a war of attrition, the Los Angeles Lakers were able to come back from multiple deficits to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 108-102 in the first Western Conference play-in game.
Even though they led in parts of the first and second quarters, they ended both with deficits of six and eleven points respectively as they struggled to hit their shots.
Despite being down by 15 at one point in the third quarter, this Lakers team that started LeBron James and Anthony Davis was able to claw back and find a way past a Timberwolves team playing without Rudy Gobert.
A Dennis Schroder 3-point ball that went through the net with 1.4 seconds to go should have been enough for the Lakers to make it to the playoffs. However, Anthony Davis fouled Mike Conley behind the arc, Conley drained all three free throws, and the game went to overtime.
In overtime, the Lakers hit a 3-pointer early thanks to Rui Hachimura and never looked back as they locked up their spot in the playoffs and will go on to play the Memphis Grizzlies as the seventh seed.
After the game, Davis was apologetic to James and Schroder for his mistake in fouling Conley as LeBron joked to TNT.
“It's unfortunate that AD (Anthony Davies) had a brain fart and messed [Schroder's] game winner up,” James said as he pointed at Davis.
Davis then came on screen, saying: “I messed his game winner up, I apologise. I definitely apologise.”
James led the way for the Lakers with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists while Davis chipped in with 24 points and 15 rebounds. Off the bench, Schroder had a clutch performance with 21 points and four rebounds.
Meanwhile for Minnesota, Karl-Anthony Towns dominated the scoresheet and the glass - putting up 24 points, 11 points, and five assists.
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