MINNEAPOLIS — The magic the Lakers had against the Dallas Mavericks just days ago had a frustratingly short shelf life. Marred by injuries and the up-and-down absences of the pandemic, there was no Minnesota miracle to be had.
That was clear in the fourth quarter of a 110-92 loss to the Timberwolves on Friday night, when Karl Anthony-Towns crowed over a listless Lakers (16-14) squad. With LeBron James in a funk, Anthony Davis dealing with injuries in the locker room, and Russell Westbrook not quite up to peak form, the stage was largely occupied by Towns, who led the lopsided win with 28 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots – the second time Minnesota has embarrassed the Lakers this season.
The worst development for the Lakers was that an already precarious injury situation took a dark turn in the third quarter, when Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels rolled into the left knee of Davis, causing him to grimace on the hardwood for the second time on the same night. Davis (nine points, one rebound, one block) made a brief return to the Lakers’ bench, but ultimately went back into the locker room where he remained for the rest of the game.
The Lakers said Davis had suffered a bruise and would be further evaluated Saturday in Chicago. Concern is elevated because of where the injury was: Davis missed two of the previous three games with what the team termed “left knee soreness.”
It could lead to a seriously understaffed matchup against the Bulls, who were only just cleared to practice on Saturday after their previous two games were postponed due to their own COVID-19 outbreak. The Lakers had six players confined to the NBA’s protocols on Friday night, and amid a breakout that has affected the entire league, there is looming concern that more positive coronavirus tests could be on the horizon.
Not that the Lakers who were available showed a tremendous amount of life: James had one of his most underwhelming games of the season, finishing with 18 points on 5-for-13 shooting. While he had a deceptive double-double, James only had eight points through three quarters, and the Lakers were outscored by 11 in his 35 minutes.
The Lakers were hoping for a lift from Westbrook, a late addition to the lineup after just clearing protocols Friday afternoon. But whether it was jet lag from his late flight from Dallas or something else, Westbrook had limited influence, scoring 14 points with three assists and shooting just seven times.
It was clear by the end of the third quarter that there wasn’t much hope left for the Lakers. They had put up a bit of a fight earlier, rattling off 11 consecutive points capped by a Kent Bazemore 3-pointer to trim their deficit to three. But Davis went down not long after that, and the Wolves pounced with their own 10-0 run, Towns dunking for the exclamation point.
The Lakers never got within single digits again. Players who had helped two nights before in Dallas – most memorably rookie Austin Reaves, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer in overtime – were missed while confined to quarantine.
From the beginning, the Timberwolves crackled with an urgency that the Lakers weren’t ready to match. Towns exuded the most energy, targeting Davis for bullying back-downs in the paint and flexing after scoring Minnesota’s first eight points. The two former No. 1 overall picks out of Kentucky have often been compared as stretch big men, but Towns emphasized his edge in pure brawn.
Eight minutes in, Towns had as many points as the off-shooting Lakers offense, who missed their first 10 3-point attempts and made just four of their first 17 shots. And that’s when it started getting bad.
Finishing a drive to the rim, Davis twisted his right ankle and went down hard. He was in the visiting locker room with the sprain for a quarter. The Lakers made do with DeAndre Jordan in spurts, while also deploying Carmelo Anthony and James as the two bigs before Davis returned with just under four minutes left in the second quarter.
But the Lakers were trying to plug an already leaky ship. With their extensive protocols list, they also had to start Kent Bazemore – recently out of the rotation – and deploy Rajon Rondo and newly signed Isaiah Thomas in pint-sized backcourt lineups.
Thomas got a standing ovation from the Target Center crowd in recognition of his tough road back into the NBA and the Lakers, whom he played 17 games for during the 2017-18 season. And the 5-foot-9 guard obliged the admiration, making a handful of floaters and getting to the free-throw line six times in the first half. Playing plenty of fourth-quarter garbage time, Thomas even wound up as the Lakers’ leading scorer with 19 points.
But as Minnesota relentlessly picked on him on defense, it was impossible to hide that Thomas’ feel-good appearance was mere duct tape on the structural weaknesses caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.
More to come on this story.