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By Joël Pütz | Sports journalist
The first round of the Playoffs started badly with the Lakers, who conceded a real beating against Minnesota. On the wolf side, Jaden McDaniels immediately pointed out the main problem of purple and gold against them.
Before the series, all of the American media or almost predicted a Lakers' victory. Unsurprisingly … But this is proof that analysts' predictions are not always flawless, although we barely launched the series between the Californians and the Timberwolves. But for the moment, it was the latter who have started the confrontation with the right end … and with the way, please.
On the move to Los Angeles, Anthony Edwards and others made only bite of purple and gold (117-95). The men of Chris Finch flew from the second quarter and kept their opponents in their rear view mirror until the end of the game. The defense articulated around Rudy Gobert notably did a superb job to extinguish the Offensive Angelino armada (39.8% success in the shooting).
Jaden McDaniels points to the lack of size of the Lakers
That being said, Minnesota was not out of the other side of the field either. Jaden McDaniels had fun as a madman against the defense of the Lakers with 25 points at 11/13 in shooting. Not renowned to be a big scorer, the winger was the party for the occasion and it was no coincidence, as he explained after the match:
I just noticed that in certain times, they had no circle protector at stake when Jaxson was not on the ground. And I mean, if he is not on the field, then I am more or less the largest player on the field (he measures 2m06, editor's note). They cannot defend on me near the circle when Jaxson Hayes is not there, but I just choose my shots at the right time.
It is not a secret, the lack of meat under the basket and in particular since the trade of Anthony Davis to obtain Luka Doncic. In addition to that, JJ Redick left Hayes only eight short minutes on the prosecution, practically inviting wolves to attack the circle. Big Man is certainly not a lightning light, but keeping it on the ground might not be a bad thing from the second round …
@banditindisguis : They have no answer to Jaden
@dawsonsmith4 : They want to force the Lakers to make Hayes play, I love it.
@MiddyMerchant : Honestly, I'm shocked that many people have chosen the Lakers in this series. Wolves have an obvious advantage in almost all positions on the ground.
Jaxson Hayes aside, the Lakers are sorely lacking in size under the circle. A subject that was debate after the trade of Anthony Davis… and the Timberwolves obviously did not fail to exploit this obvious weakness from the start of the series.
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