Timberwolves overwhelm Lakers in Game 1 blowout

After Luka Doncic and the Lakers' hot start , the Timberwolves surged in the second quarter and never looked back in a 117-95 Game 1 victory on Saturday. The Wolves led by 11 points at halftime after Donte DiVincenzo's buzzer-beater 30-footer, then opened the third quarter on an 11-0 run to firmly seize command of the game.

The Lakers rallied in the third quarter, but never got closer than 12 points for the final 23:45 of Game 1. Doncic scored 37 points, but delivered only a single assist on a night when his team had just 15, against 13 turnovers. LeBron James scored 19 points but had only three assists.

Minnesota simply looked faster than the Lakers, getting 25 fast-break points. The Timberwolves broke a team playoff record by making 21 of their 42 threes. That's a little lucky, but many of those three-pointers were wide open as the Lakers struggled to get out on shooters.

Anthony Edwards distributed the ball well, logging nine assists to go with his 22 points. Jaden McDaniels was remarkably efficient on offense, scoring 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting and collecting nine boards. The Lakers had no answer at all for Naz Reid, who scored 23 points off the bench and made six triples.

Reid and the Timberwolves' bench outscored the Lakers' reserves, 43-13. The Lakers shot under 40 percent as a team, and the reserves shot 26.3 percent.

The Timberwolves' pressure defense is something the Lakers will have to solve, but the issue they can immediately clean up is getting back on defense. Of course, one way to stop fast breaks is to make your shots so the other team can't run.

While the Timberwolves have seized home-court advantage, there's a lot of series to go. The Lakers are going to need to play complete games to beat them.