The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 128-110 on Friday night.
LOS ANGELES – Luka Dončić had started and finished one of the most exhilarating plays of the night – grabbing a defensive rebound, firing the ball ahead to teammate Austin Reaves, then racing up the floor to take Reaves’ pass for a dunk and a foul shot.
That put the Los Angeles Lakers up by 25, 126-101, with 5:23 to go. It also got Dončić to 48 points, so with the margin and the clock on their side, Lakers coach JJ Redick decided to play with the game a little.
Sure, Luka, go for 50. The world loves big round numbers.
Problem was, Dončić – who got pretty much everything else done Friday night at Crypto.com Arena – didn’t hit that stat target. He launched a 3-pointer from 35 feet that missed. He botched a layup. He passed up a shot.
Redick had gone so deep to his bench with barely three minutes left that Bronny James was in, and still he left Dončić on the court.
“I already had given him three chances,” the Lakers coach said. “I gave him a fourth chance, he gets fouled and he blows that too.”
Dončić went to the line one final time and missed the first free throw. He hit the second and he was done with 49, exiting at 3:05 after another remarkable performance.
In fact, that’s what the 2025-26 season has been for the Lakers’ star point guard. Two games in which Dončić grabbed more turf in NBA history, becoming the first player to open a season with consecutive stats lines of 40+ points, 10+ rebounds and 5+ assists.
Here are four takeaways from the Lakers’ 128-110 victory over the Timberwolves:
1. Hollywood showdown? Advantage Luka
On any short list of NBA stars in hot pursuit of their first Most Valuable Player award, the names of Dončić and Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards would loom large. The former is a Slovenian savant who, well, makes performances like Friday’s seem routine. The latter is a lot of folks’ pick to grab back the Michael Jordan Trophy from the international stars who have won the past seven.
There’s been a budding rivalry between the two for a couple seasons now, with each young star’s team besting the others in postseason play. In 2024, Dončić’s Dallas club bounced Minnesota from the Western Conference Finals. Last May, Edwards’ Wolves dumped the Lakers and Dončić in the first round. Both series lasted just five games.
This time, there was a clear winner: Edwards was good, scoring 31 points to lead Minnesota. Dončić was better, excelling across the board with those 49 points and 11 rebounds and eight assists. He was a plus 18 for the Lakers, Edwards was a minus 17 for his team.
“He managed the game really well,” Redick said. “We had to have him making shots early. They went to some blitzes, double-teams, and he became a willing passer.”
Enjoyed it too. On one play, Dončić ran across the baseline, leaped over some photographers seated there and pumped his fist. On another, he nailed a shot, stared into the stands and shimmied his shoulders.
2. Concerning defensive slide by Wolves
Two years ago, Minnesota had the league’s stingiest defense, allowing 108.4 points per 100 possessions. Last season, the Wolves ranked sixth at 110.8. Those efforts were essential to the team’s success, reaching the Western Conference championship round both times.
Through two games this season, that former source of so much pride and winning is absent. The Wolves ranked 27th by the end of Friday, giving up points at a 123.5 rate. They were good in Portland on Wednesday in their season opener (giving up 95 points through three quarters before buckling down in the fourth) and they had no answers at any point for the Lakers.
For a stretch they seemed content to outscore L.A., until L.A. became the out-scorers.
“Defense” was the first word out of coach Chris Finch’s mouth in his postgame remarks, and the final word on the outcome.
“Defense certainly is not where it needs to be,” the Minnesota coach said. “We’re not dictating them at the point of attack. There’s no aggressiveness to it at all. The fly-around mentality behind it is just not [there]. … This was one of the worst defensive performances that we’ve had in a long time.”
Said center Rudy Gobert, the Wolves’ most decorated defender: “We were a step slow, a step behind on everything. … Our transition defense wasn’t sharp. We were hanging around after misses, after turnovers.”
The Wolves get three games in Minneapolis in four nights – Indiana on Sunday, Denver on Monday and these Lakers again on Wednesday – to fix things.
3. Ayton winning fans over
Center Deandre Ayton figured to be the most polarizing Lakers player this season, a former No. 1 overall pick signed over the summer to fill the team’s obvious need for help up front. Fans grumpy after Tuesday’s season-opening loss to Golden State focused some of their wrath on the big man, unhappy with his 10-point, six-rebound performance in the defeat.
Things sounded rosier during and after beating Minnesota. Ayton finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and a block, hitting seven of his 11 shots and benefitting time and again from Dončić’s awareness and bullet passes. To be fair, Ayton helped out the playmaker as well, setting some solid screens.
“His patience and game were really good early,” Redick said.
To his credit, Ayton has been resolutely positive about fitting in with the Lakers and learning his teammates’ games. But after the final horn, he came through the tunnel to the Lakers locker room whooping, arms raised, happy with the latest feedback.
4. A Smart acquisition
In his first nine seasons with Boston, guard Marcus Smart was a three-time All-Defensive selection, the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year and an invaluable leader on the court and off.
The past two seasons, alas, have seen Smart’s profile and impact decline due to injuries and lost seasons spread between Memphis and Washington. The Lakers gambled in July that Smart, at 31, could stay healthy and productive enough to shore up their defense and apply toughness to a crew long on finesse.
What stood out about his work Friday? Not his scoring (three points), his rebounding (zero) or his passing (one assist). It was his stalwart defensive work and, oh yeah, the fact L.A. was 24 points better than Minnesota in Smart’s 20+ minutes.
A play in the second quarter provided a time capsule moment: Dancing step to step with Edwards, Smart ripped the ball from the Wolves star’s hands. As he fell to the floor he flung the ball into the frontcourt to Reaves, who finished the fast break.
Smart is a hammer type of player, to whom every situation is a nail. Sometimes he gets too feisty. But the Lakers should benefit from his style of carpentry.
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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
