LOS ANGELES— Rui Hachimura got smacked in the face early in Game 2, and he headed to the Los Angeles Lakers’ locker room with a bleeding nose. He was back on the court just one quarter later wearing a mask, which he discarded shortly afterward because it annoyed him.
The Lakers said they collectively got smacked in the mouth by the blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in their first-round series opener. Game 2 was all about their response — and LeBron James loved his team’s tenacity.
Luka Doncic had 31 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, and the Lakers fought back to even their series with Minnesota with a 94-85 victory Tuesday night.
“We looked at what we didn’t do so well, which is a lot of things in Game 1,” said James, who scored 21 points and made a key steal in the fourth quarter. “We took it to heart, held each other accountable and had a much better result.”
Game 3 is Friday night in Minneapolis.
Austin Reaves added 16 for the third-seeded Lakers, who jumped out to an early 22-point lead and hung on through a physical matchup with sixth-seeded Minnesota.
Los Angeles scored only 60 points in the final three quarters, but the Wolves never got closer than nine points. Coach JJ Redick was proud of his players’ response — even if he had to unload on them in the fourth quarter during a profanity-laden timeout to maintain their focus down the stretch. “I think tonight was just more about getting that urgency button switched back on,” Redick said.
Julius Randle scored 27 points and Anthony Edwards had 25 for the Timberwolves, who lost most of their offensive fluidity from Game 1. Edwards said the Lakers’ defensive adjustments made it “kind of hard” on him.
“The way that they’re guarding us, when I catch the ball, they kind of go zone, and when I try to attack a gap, it’s like three people,” Edwards said. “I’ve just got to make my decisions a little quicker, and we’ll be all right.”
James added 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers, who never lost control of a chippy, choppy game with 46 personal fouls and multiple video reviews. James and Hachimura both took hard shots to the face, and Hachimura donned a second mask after halftime.
The Wolves hit 21 3-pointers while blowing out the Lakers 117-95 in Game 1. Los Angeles went up by 19 in the first quarter of Game 2 while Doncic exploited isolations on Rudy Gobert.
“We knew they would come with high intensity, with energy,” Randle said. “We knew it was going to be physical. … We were stagnant, missed open looks, missed layups. They were just in a rhythm.”
