Lakers season comes to end with Game 5 loss to Wolves
The Lakers fell behind early and could not mount a big enough rally to come back against the Wolves on Wednesday, falling in Game 5 to end their season.
A lackluster first half dug the Lakers too big a hole to come out of as their season came to an end in Game 5 on Wednesday with a 103-96 loss to the Wolves.
Rui Hachimura had 23 points on 9-16 shooting, including 5-8 shooting from range. Luka Dončić scored 28 points with his seven rebounds and nine assists.
LeBron James ended with 22 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals. Austin Reaves had a rough offensive game, scoring 12 points with six turnovers.
Dorian Finney-Smith pitched in with seven points before fouling out midway through the fourth. Jarred Vanderbilt did the dirty work with seven rebounds, three assists and a steal.
The Lakers started the game looking like a team ready for Cancun. They allowed the Wolves to go up six before a pair of free throws from Luka gave LA its first points. The Timberwolves, though, were in full control of the game.
Rui woke the team up with his four-point surge, but the Lakers still had a lot of work to do. After a timeout, the Wolves scored six straight again. Austin eventually drained a much-needed 3-pointer for LA.
Minnesota continued to have full control with the Lakers playing the worst possible defense imaginable. Maxi Kleber saw some minutes for the first time this season and knocked down two free throws. Julius Randle fouled Luka from behind the arc, and Luka made all three free throws.
At the end of the first, LA was still down nine.
Doncic managed to draw a foul attempting a 3 with 2.9 seconds left and hit all 3 to pull LA within 9 at 31-22 after 1.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) May 1, 2025
LA struggled from the field, shooting 6 for 18 overall (1 for 7 from 3), with LeBron and Luka a combined 1 for 8, and had 6 turnovers to Minnesota's 5.
Los Angeles started the second quarter the complete opposite of the first with a surge of scoring and energy. Seven straight points put them in a great position to make a push for the lead, but Minnesota answered immediately to put themselves up seven.
Rui scored six points early and became the first Laker in double digits. Randle joined Jaden McDaniels with three fouls, which was an early positive for LA.
Luka scored his first shot from the field around the six-minute mark. Donte DiVincenzo scored seven points off the bench for the Wolves. Rudy Gobert was up to a series-high of 13 points. The Lakers could not find a way to defend him in this game.
LeBron threw down an emphatic dunk to inject some life into the team. Austin converted on one of his signature layups. With a minute left until the half was over, Luka headed to the locker room after an apparent injury following a foul by DiVincenzo.
LA could not end the quarter positively and fell behind by 10 at halftime.
LA trail 59-49 at the half, having trimmed an early 14-point lead to 2 before MIN got it back to 10. Wolves scored the final 4 points in the last minute of the 2nd after LA cut it to 6.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) May 1, 2025
A 10-2 handling of the offensive glass helped MIN take 14 more FGA's than LA.
LeBron scored four straight points to give the Lakers energy to start the second half. Luka was back in the game and finally drained a 3-pointer after missing his first four attempts. Despite LA’s attempts at snatching the momentum, Minnesota still had it all for themselves.
The Lakers still couldn’t find a solution to stop Gobert’s strong showing. He threw down an emphatic dunk and had 20 points.
Although they stumbled and fumbled through the quarter, the Lakers managed to stay close. Fighting through the pain, Luka put the team on his back, scoring eight points to help cut the deficit to two. Dorian then put LA up by one with a 3-pointer.
Gobert’s rebounds were crucial for the Wolves, giving them opportunities to clean up their missed shots. He put back a layup that Anthony Edwards miss to put the Wolves up by one at the end of the third.
Third quarter: Wolves 81, Lakers 80
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) May 1, 2025
LA outscored MIN 31-22 in the third quarter. Luka has been gutting this one out. He's up 25 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Rui has 18 points. LeBron has 17/5/4. Wolves have 12 more FGAs due to TOs (-2 MIN) and offensive rebounds (+6 MIN).
The final frame didn’t start well for either team as they missed shots, but Rui eventually opened up the scoring with a layup. Randle converted on one of his usual fadeaway shots to put the Timberwolves up by two.
Austin knocked his second 3-pointer out of 10 attempts, putting the Lakers up by one. Randle then put the Wolves back up one. The game was close, and neither team could mount a run to take momentum.
Dorian fouled out of the game with six minutes left. Gobert’s great game continued as he had a 20-point, 20-rebound outing and once again, put back a missed shot with a dunk.
LA’s terrible fourth-quarter play seemed to be seeping into this game as they couldn’t knock down any shots. McDaniels fouled out with 4:28 left to play. The Lakers struggled to get rebounds, leading to more attempts for the Wolves.
Randle shot a floater that put Minnesota up by five. LeBron drained a huge 3-pointer to make it a two-point deficit with three minutes left. Out of a timeout, Randle scored on a layup.
Edwards then scored on a fast-break layup, and now the Lakers were down six. Rui knocked down a 3-pointer to cut that deficit in half. The Lakers, though, had nothing else left in the tank and Minnesota iced the game away with ease.
Key Takeaways:
All together now....ONE-TWO-THREE CANCUN!
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.