Luka Doncic delivered 31 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 94-85 Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena, tying their first-round series at 1-1.
The third-seeded Lakers jumped out to a 34-15 lead in the first quarter and never trailed, maintaining their edge with aggressive defense and timely scoring from Austin Reaves, who added 16 points.
Los Angeles responded to its blowout Game 1 loss by controlling the pace early and limiting Minnesota’s perimeter success, holding the Timberwolves to 5-of-25 shooting from beyond the arc.
LeBron James contributed 21 points, 11 boards and seven assists, anchoring a chippy game that featured 46 personal fouls and several video reviews.
Rui Hachimura briefly exited with a bloody nose after taking a hit to the face in the first quarter, returned with a mask, then discarded it and finished with 11 points and two steals in 34 minutes.
Doncic repeatedly targeted Rudy Gobert in isolations, especially in the first half, and went 11-for-11 from the free throw line to lead all scorers.
Minnesota struggled offensively after their Game 1 dominance, with Anthony Edwards managing 25 points on 10-of-22 shooting, and Julius Randle chipping in 27 but committing five fouls.
The Timberwolves shot just 38% from the field and had 11 turnovers, unable to close the gap beyond single digits despite trimming the deficit to nine in the fourth quarter.
Mike Conley was held scoreless in 21 minutes, and Minnesota’s bench contributed only 19 points combined.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick, in his playoff debut on the sidelines, called a fiery timeout in the final period to settle his squad, who saw their lead trimmed to 10 with under seven minutes to play.
The Lakers shot 100% from the free throw line on 20 attempts and held a 41-34 rebounding advantage while converting 45.3% from the field.
Game 3 shifts to Target Center in Minneapolis on Friday night, where both teams will look to seize control of the series.
