LOS ANGELES — The task given to the Lakers on Sunday — going without one of their best players against one of the Western Conference’s best teams on the second night of a back-to-back — was already going to be a challenge.
But once they lost their other best player, the challenge became too much to overcome, leading the Lakers to fall to the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-117 at Crypto.com Arena.
With LeBron James sidelined and Anthony Davis only playing the first quarter due to an eye injury, the Lakers fell to 45-34 this season, despite Rui Hachimura leading the way. team with 30 points.
Davis left between the first and second quarters after Kyle Anderson hit Davis in the left eye with his forearm during a Davis putback dunk with 25 seconds left in the first. It was the same eye that Davis injured in the March 16 home loss to the Golden State Warriors, resulting in Davis only playing in the first quarter of that game.
Sunday went the same way.
Davis remained in the locker room for the entire second quarter before the team ruled him out shortly before the start of the half.
He finished with four points, four rebounds and three assists in 12 minutes, with the Lakers leading 37-33 when Davis left the game. James was unavailable due to flu-like symptoms.
The Lakers didn’t fare well initially without Davis, surrendering a 46-27 second quarter that allowed the Timberwolves to take a 79-64 halftime lead.
Minnesota’s lead grew to 84-64 early in the third.
The Lakers came back strongly behind the energetic play of Jaxson Hayes, who started the second half in place of Davis. Hayes had four dunks in the third, contributing to his game-high 19 points with 10 rebounds and five steals.
The Lakers cut their deficit to 94-90 with less than two minutes left in the third after a corner 3-pointer from Cam Reddish.
But they didn’t get any closer, with the Timberwolves controlling the fourth before coach Darvin Ham eliminated his rotation players with his team trailing 126-111 with two minutes remaining.
Naz Reid led the Timberwolves (54-24) with a double-double of 31 points and 11 rebounds, while Anthony Edwards had 26 points and eight assists.
Spencer Dinwiddie, who started in place of James, finished with 18 points (4-of-7 shooting), seven assists and five rebounds. D’Angelo Russell (15 points on 5-of-19 shooting, with 11 assists and seven rebounds) and Austin Reaves (14 points on 4-of-14 shooting) struggled with their shooting.
The Lakers will have Monday off before playing their final home game of the regular season against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.
More to come on this story.
California Daily Newspapers
