Lakers match Wolves' physicality to even a series that won't be won by playing pretty

LOS ANGELES — Austin Reaves said it succinctly — the Lakers were punked in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

When players and coaches talk about playing a game on their terms, being punked is first on the list of unacceptable terms, in big, bold letters. So while logic said the Los Angeles Lakers were going to even up this series, the how was just as important as the end result.

True playoff basketball arrived at Crypto.com Arena Tuesday, the scars of war evident in the Lakers’ 94-85 win.

Luka Dončić hit the floor more than a few times, even claiming he was tripped by Jaden McDaniels on a fourth-quarter mixup.

LeBron James was hit inadvertently in the face by Timberwolves bruiser Julius Randle following a shot in the paint — and the basket was waved off.

Rui Hachimura was hit in the face, tried one mask before throwing it off, then tried another one, and Lakers coach JJ Redick said he would likely get X-rays following the game.

Such is life in these NBA playoffs, where the physicality league-wide has been noticeable. The officials are swallowing their whistles more and players are having to play through contact rather than getting big business bailouts and trips to the foul line.

Maybe the long layoff hurt the Lakers, or maybe they weren’t physically prepared for what the playoffs are all about — a more likely conclusion.

When the Lakers had a lull, their coach was right there with some verbal smelling salts — the expletives and frustration were caught on camera, but the message was received in the third quarter.

“It wasn’t frustration, just coaching,” Redick said. “On the horizon it was building. I just wanted to make sure everybody was on the same page.”

The home team responded by pressing the lead back to 20 with a 9-0 run. James jokingly said Redick “is gonna spazz out from time to time. We have to understand that it’s not how he’s saying it, but what he’s saying.”

It was the alarm blaring after they hit the snooze button for 10 minutes, and Redick didn’t want this team to get comfortable.

The Timberwolves have no problem playing that way, those are terms they welcome. But Tuesday’s game was anything but comfortable for them, and they should’ve expected this level of response from the Lakers.

Dončić led the Lakers with 31 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists while James scored 21 with 11 rebounds and seven assists, a turning of fortunes from Game 1 when the ball stuck so much Dončić had just one feeder.

They jumped on the Wolves early, perhaps sensing a satisfaction from stealing home-court advantage in Game 1. But there was a desperation, an acknowledgement that despite having Dončić and James as two otherworldly talents, they can’t win a beauty pageant here.

“We had the same gameplan,” Dončić said. “We didn’t really change much. It was just a question of whether we were gonna be more physical or not. I think we showed that and we were there for 48 minutes.”

Their personnel doesn’t allow them to win pretty consistently, and if they are to survive this series and any other, it’ll have to be won this way. The offensive total for the Lakers didn’t change at all, and they averaged only 97 points in their four regular-season meetings, so it’s a big enough sample size to show offensive explosions are unlikely.

The offense slowed down at times as the Lakers tried to exploit Rudy Gobert on an island defensively against Dončić, Reaves and James, but Gobert generally comported himself well, and it’s something to watch as the series goes on.

The chess match between Redick and Timberwolves coach Chris Finch has begun, but the effort level has been a prerequisite in the first two games.

“They play hard as s***,” Reaves said. “And if you do not meet that physicality with physicality, you’ve seen the result, and the emphasis going into the night was to play hard.”

That goes for every other hotly contested series in these playoffs — the grind will win out between Denver and the L.A. Clippers, the grit will have its signature all over the New York-and-Detroit tilt as well.

So it’s only right to have a place at this table, and the Lakers were determined to make life more difficult for Anthony Edwards, Naz Reid and McDaniels.

Edwards charged up his teammates with a two-handed dunk on Jaxson Hayes in the second half, but nothing was easy because those were the terms the Lakers were allowing.

They took what the defense gave them and the defense gave them nothing.

The Lakers allowed just 38 percent and after all those bricks didn’t give up much in the way of offensive rebounding.

Those easy passes for corner 3s weren’t to be found — Reid had more fouls than baskets after terrorizing the Lakers in the opener and McDaniels competed admirably but found himself unable to duplicate his Game 1 showing.

The Timberwolves made only five triples after hitting a franchise-record 21 in the opener. And even when they made a run, storming back from a 22-point deficit to make the Lakers sweat just a little bit, they couldn’t tighten up long enough to truly threaten.

James snuck behind Edwards in transition and poked the ball away, leading to a layup with 2:40 left that gave the Lakers a 92-81 lead, some breathing room and halting some critical momentum.

“They had numbers. I was able to sneak in on the rearview on the right side,” James said. “Able to use my athleticism and smarts. Reached for the ball before he could see me in his blind spot, and go coast to coast. That type of steal, that type of play, they could’ve cut it to [seven].”

James is in the spot where there’s more accomplishments in the rearview than what’s possibly in his windshield. But he can get there in moments, he can make critical plays when the game calls for it, even when he’s not having the most polished offensive showing.

That’s the luxury in having Dončić, for one. But also James realizing there’s only so much his body can do — Reaves tried to throw him an alley-cop on a break that the 2009 version would’ve brought the house down with, but James didn’t even load up his 40-year old legs to go to the penthouse.

He’s been wrestling with Randle these evenings, then chasing around the young bucks — confessing that he was dog tired after the finish.

One thing that seems clear after two games, this looks like a long dance into the mud.

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Lakers match Wolves’ physicality to even a series that won’t be won by playing pretty

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