LOS ANGELES — The stage was set for the Lakers to kick off the playoffs in a memorable manner against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Areas near and leading to the Lakers’ locker room were redecorated with purple playoff art.

Gold T-shirts with the Lakers’ playoff slogan “Unleash Joy” were on every seat for every fan inside Crypto.com Arena – the first time the Lakers have opened a first-round playoff series in Los Angeles since April 2012.

But by the time those same fans got back to their seats shortly after halftime, the Lakers were close to being run out of the gym, eventually falling to the Timberwolves, 117-95, in a Game 1 matchup they trailed by as much as 27.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night back as the Lakers look to get at least a split on their home floor before heading to Minnesota for Games 3 and 4.

“They’re a great opponent,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “They’re one of the best in basketball. It’s not that our guys weren’t ready to withstand a playoff-level basketball game. We were mentally ready. I thought our spirit was right. I thought even when they made runs, our huddles were great. The communication was great.

“I’m not sure physically we were ready, if that makes sense. When they started playing with a lot of thrusts and physicality, we just didn’t respond immediately to that.”

Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 37 points on 12-of-22 shooting (5 for 10 from 3-point range) and eight rebounds, but it wasn’t nearly enough to prevent the Lakers from losing home-court advantage to begin the best-of-seven series.

The sixth-seeded Timberwolves knocked down a franchise playoff-record 21 3-point shots – shooting a blistering 50% from behind the arc – and overwhelmed the third-seeded Lakers with their physical play, shot-making and veteran poise.

“They just physically beat us from the get-go,” guard Austin Reaves said. “Neither team has played in a week or so, but they came out with a little more aggression and physicality to their game that helped them win. That’s really it.”

Reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid (23 points, five rebounds off the bench) led the Timberwolves with six 3-pointers.

All-NBA guard Anthony Edwards (22 points, nine assists, eight rebounds) shot 4 for 9 from long range, while Jaden McDaniels, who led the Timberwolves with 25 points and nine rebounds, made all three of his attempts from behind the arc.

LeBron James finished with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Reaves had 16 points (5-of-13 shooting), but both of the Lakers’ stars had slow starts.

James and Reaves were both scoreless at the end of the first, with Jame scoring 10 points in the second and Reaves having 2 points at halftime on 1-of-6 shooting.

The Timberwolves took advantage – not only of James’ and Reaves’ sluggish starts, but the Lakers regularly left shooters wide open while prioritizing protecting the paint.

“Have to go look back at every one,” Redick said, “but I know a number of those on came in transition, [and] offensive rebounds.”

The Timberwolves weathered a 16-point first quarter from Doncic, then made 15 3-pointers during the second and third – including a trio of 3s in the opening two minutes of the third – when they turned what had been a seven-point deficit after one period into an 88-61 lead midway through the third.

“They were hitting a lot of 3s,” Doncic said. “We gotta limit their 3s, especially their lasers. And we weren’t physical. They were running. They were getting anything they [wanted]. And we gotta be better than that.”

The Lakers finished the third quarter strong and cut their deficit to 12 multiple times with the help of improved physicality and energy, but they couldn’t get any closer.

“You know when you play Minnesota they’re going to be physical,” James said. “That’s what they bring to the table. So maybe it took us one playoff game to get a feel for it and know the type of intensity and type of physicality that’s going to be brought to the game. That’s just the way they play. So we should be more than prepared for that on Tuesday night.”

Minnesota, which won for the 18th time in its past 22 games, scored 25 fast-break points and 23 second-chance points.

“That’s hard to overcome,” Redick said. “Particularly when a team is shooting like they were shooting.”

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