Not long before tip-off of the Los Angeles Lakers’ Opening Night contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves, news came out that Rudy Gobert had agreed to an extension. Anthony Davis took that personally and made it very clear who was the better big man on the court.
Davis absolutely dominated on both ends of the court, finishing with 36 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and three blocks as the Lakers won their first game for the first time since 2016, defeating the Timberwolves 110-103.
Of course, history was also made as LeBron James and his son Bronny James shared the court late in the second quarter, becoming the first father-son duo to play together in NBA history. The pair were able to share that with Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr., the first father-son to play together in MLB, who were in attendance at Crypto.com Arena.
It was also the first head coaching win for JJ Redick, who had the Lakers ready to play from the outset. The Lakers’ energy and aggression was noticeable as was the ball and player movement on offense. The team grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and turned the ball over just seven times while forcing 15 from the Timberwolves.
Rui Hachimura’s performance will probably fly under the radar due to everything else going on, but he got the Lakers off to a strong start and was aggressive all night long. His 18 points were second on the team to go along with five rebounds and two steals.
LeBron finished with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists, including a 3-pointer late in the fourth that essentially iced the game. Austin Reaves also had an excellent all-around showing with 12 points, nine rebounds (four offensive) and four assists with no turnovers.
The Lakers additionally got a couple of strong performances from their bench with Jaxson Hayes contributing 10 points and four rebounds while rookie Dalton Knecht added five points and two assists.
Anthony Edwards led the way for the Timberwolves with 27 points, including five 3-pointers while former Laker Julius Randle added 16 points and nine rebounds.
Perhaps most impressive for the Lakers was that they got a win despite an awful night from deep, knocking down just 5-of-30 from 3-point range. But they held the Timberwolves to just 41.2% shooting overall and the offensive rebounding and lack of turnovers helped make up for it ,as did their 21-of-25 shooting night from the free throw line.
Next up for the Lakers
The Lakers get a couple days off before continuing their homestand to start the season when they host the Phoenix Suns on Friday night before taking on the Sacramento Kings on Saturday.