2 weeks Ago
The Minnesota Timberwolves enter the NBA playoffs as the sixth seed in the Western Conference with a difficult first-round matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers. Given the Lakers are a big market and have top stars Luka Doncic and LeBron James, everyone in the NBA media seems to be picking the Lakers to win the series. More news : Lakers' LeBron James Could be Dealing With Significant Injury Ahead of Playoffs When asked about that at a press conference, superstar wing Anthony Edwards gave a brutally honest response.
“Yeah, I just love it, it’s dope. I love the fact that everybody wants the Lakers to win. That’s how it’s supposed to be, they don’t want the Timberwolves to win.
I get it.” The Timberwolves are a much smaller market team compared to the Lakers, but they also made the Western Conference finals just last season. The Lakers have a lot of great talent on paper, but the Timberwolves are better than they get credit for.
Everyone is high on the Lakers after acquiring Doncic during the middle of the season, but the Timberwolves have Edwards, who is capable of single-handedly winning a series, as well as some other solid offensive contributors, such as Julius Randle, Naz Reid, and Donte DiVincenzo. The team also has an elite interior defender in Rudy Gobert and an elite perimeter defender in Jaden McDaniels. The Lakers don’t really have a super elite defender like McDaniels to defend Edwards, so if he has a huge series on the offensive end, the Timberwolves may have the defensive firepower to slow down the Lakers offense.
However, despite how Edwards was last year in the playoffs, Doncic was even better, leading the Mavericks to the NBA finals after beating the Timberwolves last year in the playoffs. Doncic knows how to beat this team, and as long as LeBron and Austin Reaves can do their parts on offense, the team should be fine. More news: Lakers to Enter 2025 Playoffs with Huge Championship Odds The Lakers are favored for a reason, beyond market bias.
Since acquiring Doncic, the team has looked like a championship contender, something the Timberwolves can’t really say about this season. While more people should be excited about the Timberwolves’ chances in this series based on last season and not disrespect them so much, this year’s team is a different team, just as this year’s Lakers, at least since acquiring Doncic, is also a drastically better team, making them understandably the favorite in the series in the eyes of the public. More Lakers: Los Angeles Insider Walks Back Criticism of Bronny James with Honest Admission Lakers Linked to $100 Million Blazers Star as Summer Trade Target For the latest Los Angeles Lakers news and notes, stay glued to Los Angeles Lakers On SI .
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