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The Minnesota Timberwolves were in town for this nationally televised game on TNT last Thursday night, and the Lakers were losers of two straight but finally got some good news, as Rajon Rondo was set to make his return to action. Rondo has not played since Christmas Day and was a welcomed site for the Lakers. With Lonzo Ball out, Rondo joined the starting line-up alongside Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, KCP, and Ivica Zubac.
The game opened up with the two big-men scoring the first two points each for their team, reminding us all that there actually IS a post game. Karl Towns would then hit a three and tip in a miss, scoring seven of the first nine points for the Wolves. After a nice D-Rose reverse layup and two Taj Gibson free throws, the Wolves led 13-6 with 7:49 left. Zubac would slam it home on the next possession and then Rondo hit a three, making it a two-point game. Andrew Wiggins pulled off a nice mini-euro step for two, but the Lakers scored four straight to tie the game at 15. Michael Beasley came in the game and was his usual self, instant offense. Beasley scored five points off the bench in the first, and Rondo hit another three, helping the Lakers lead 29-28 after one.
Dario Saric got the scoring going in the 2nd with a nice floater over McGee, but McGee answered right back with a slam dunk of his own, and the foul (missed FT). Gorgui Dieng made a basket, then Jerryd Bayless hit a three, opening up a 37-31 lead for the Wolves. Svi Mykhailiuk hit back-to-back-threes to answer, tying the game at 37 with just under nine minutes left in the half. Wiggins would dunk it home for the Wolves, but the Lakers answered with a Zubac bucket inside (after a few tries) and a Josh Hart lay-up, taking a two-point lead. The Wolves scored twice to take the lead, but the Lakers used back-to-back threes from Lance and KCP to retake the lead. The Lakers were up five before giving up a fastbreak lay-up to end the half to Bayless, so the lead at halftime was three, 61-58. Rondo was in charge of the offense, scoring 10 points and handing out 6 assists. Andrew Wiggins led all scorers with 14 at the half.
Both teams turn it over on their first possession of the second half, so a great start. Ingram would hit a pull-up jumper, followed up by a Zubac tip-in, extending the Lakers lead to seven, and forcing the Wolves to call time. Karl Towns would score back-to-back buckets inside, then following a Lakers turnover, Gibson scored back-to-back buckets, forcing the Lakers to call time with the score all tied up at 66. The Lakers and Wolves would go back-and-forth for a few minutes, using buckets by Ingram and Luol Deng (memba him???), but the Wolves used a Jerryd Bayless three to open up a 77-72 lead with 4:11 left. Lance would pop a three to cut into the lead and Beasley hit a floater, but Luol Deng scored again, and lead the Wolves 84-82 heading into the final quarter.
To start the fourth, the Wolves go on an 8-0 run, opening up a 92-82 lead with just under 11 to play. After a timeout, the Lakers missed a three and a tip-in, and the Wolves took advantage, using a Wiggins bucket to lead by 12. The Lakers turned it over again, and Wiggins scored again, extending the lead to 14. Kuzma would end the run with a bucket and the foul (made the FT), followed by an Ingram slam dunk. Both teams would trade buckets, and then Josh Hart hit a three, cutting the Wolves lead to 98-92 with 6:52 left. Wiggins drove down the paint and missed a lay-up, but Karl Towns rebounded the miss and put it back, keeping the Wolves up 8. Ingram used a nice shooter’s touch to follow the Towns bucket, but Towns jammed it home over two Lakers to keep the lead at 8. After a Lakers turnover, the Wolves hit three free-throws and Wiggins found Gibson for a dunk, extending the lead to 12. Rondo answered with a lay-up, but Towns hit a three, giving the Wolves a 109-96 lead with 4:40 left. The Lakers finally scored with 3:00 left, using a Rondo three-pointer to cut into the Wolves lead, but the Lakers never got closer, losing by 15 to the Wolves. Lakers lose at home 105-120.
The Lakers fall to 25-24 and remain in 9th place in the West. The Lakers have lost three games in a row, and their home record falls to 15-11. The Lakers hope to bounce back on Sunday against the Phoenix Suns at Staples Center.
Top Performers
Karl Towns (MIN) – 27 pts, 10-18 FG, 12 reb, 5 ast, 2 blk
Rajon Rondo (LAL) – 15 pts, 6-11 FG, 13 ast, 6 reb, 1 stl
Next Game: Sunday, Jan 27, 6:30 PM vs Suns (11-40)
TV: Spectrum SportsNet, Radio: 710ESPN
Game Notes
- Rajon Rondo made his return from injury and played 37 minutes for the injury-depleted Lakers.
- LeBron James is practicing with the team but has not been cleared to play.
- The Lakers had 19 turnovers on the game, compared to 12 for the Wolves.
- All Lakers starters scored in double-digits.
- Kyle Kuzma told reporters after the game that he was dealing with a hip injury.
- Full Box Score available on NBA.com
- Images are courtesy of Lakers.com & Getty Images
Box Score
| Teams | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
 | 28 | 30 | 26 | 36 | 120 |
 | 29 | 32 | 21 | 23 | 105 |
Minnesota Timberwolves
| Players | MP | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | +/- |
| A. Wiggins* | 37 | 23 | 8 | 3 | 9-23 | 1-4 | +15 |
| T. Gibson* | 27 | 14 | 10 | 1 | 4-7 | 0-0 | +7 |
| K. Towns* | 31 | 27 | 12 | 5 | 10-18 | 3-5 | +12 |
| J. Okogie* | 39 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 2-14 | 0-7 | +8 |
| D. Rose* | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3-7 | 0-1 | -2 |
| G. Dieng | 15 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2-7 | 0-0 | +5 |
| J. Bayless | 29 | 16 | 2 | 8 | 6-15 | 3-8 | +8 |
| D. Saric | 20 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1-2 | 0-1 | +8 |
| A. Tolliver | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | +7 |
| L. Deng | 11 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3-4 | 1-2 | +6 |
| J. Terrell | 9 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 4-5 | 2-3 | +3 |
| K. Bates-Diop | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | -3 |
| J. Teague | DNP | ||||||
| MIN TOTALS | 240 | 120 | 55 | 24 | 44-102 43% | 10-33 30% | +15 |
Los Angeles Lakers
| Players | MP | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | +/- |
| B. Ingram* | 36 | 20 | 6 | 1 | 8-14 | 0-2 | -10 |
| K. Kuzma* | 28 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 4-12 | 0-4 | 0 |
| I. Zubac* | 20 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 5-12 | 0-0 | -10 |
| K. Caldwell-Pope* | 27 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 5-8 | 1-4 | -1 |
| R. Rondo* | 37 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 6-11 | 3-5 | -1 |
| J. McGee | 22 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 5-7 | 0-0 | -1 |
| M. Beasley | 12 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 4-7 | 0-1 | -9 |
| J. Hart | 21 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2-6 | 1-5 | -17 |
| L. Stephenson | 22 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 3-5 | 1-2 | -15 |
| S. Mykhailiuk | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2-4 | 2-4 | -9 |
| M. Wagner | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | -2 |
| T. Chandler | DNP | ||||||
| LAL TOTALS | 240 | 111 | 42 | 20 | 42/84 50% | 5/20 25% | -95 |
* = Starter
Standings
| Team | Record | PCT | GB | STRK | L10 | |
| 1 | Warriors | 34-14 | 71% | – | W9 | 9-1 |
| 2 | Nuggets | 31-15 | 67% | 2 | L1 | 6-4 |
| 3 | Thunder | 30-18 | 62% | 4 | W4 | 5-5 |
| 4 | Blazers | 30-20 | 60% | 5 | W1 | 7-3 |
| 5 | Rockets | 27-20 | 57% | 6½ | W1 | 5-5 |
| 6 | Spurs | 27-22 | 55% | 7½ | L2 | 5-5 |
| 7 | Jazz ↑ | 27-22 | 55% | 7½ | W1 | 8-2 |
| 8 | Clippers ↓ | 26-22 | 54% | 8 | W1 | 4-6 |
| 9 | Lakers | 25-24 | 51% | 9½ | L3 | 4-6 |
For full standings, please visit NBA.com.
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