LeBron James leads Lakers past Timberwolves

[February 17, 2021]  LeBron James totaled 30 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 112-104 road victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.

The Lakers, one of the best road teams in the league this season, won for the 13th time in 16 games away from L.A. and prevailed for the eighth time in their past nine games overall.

Playing without Anthony Davis, who is expected to miss multiple weeks after straining his right Achilles, the Lakers trailed 81-77 with 1:56 left in the third quarter.

James sparked a 26-8 surge that helped the Lakers open up a 14-point lead in the final quarter and eventually hold on for the victory.

Kyle Kuzma (seven points) started again with Davis out, but it was Montrezl Harrell who was clutch off the bench with 17 points and six rebounds and Marc Gasol (11 points) on the defensive end limiting Karl-Anthony Towns to only 15 points and six rebounds.

Towns was averaging 21 points over his first three games back since returning from a 13-game absence due to a positive COVID-19 test.

Dennis Schroder also delivered on the offensive end, shooting 9-for-15 and finishing with 24 points. The Lakers made 11 of 26 attempts from 3-point range (42.3 percent).

Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) drives to the basket against Los Angeles Lakers center Marc Gasol (right) in the first half at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

But Minnesota was sharp from long distance as well, connecting on 16-for-34 attempts (47.1 percent). Rookie Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves with 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists -- sinking 5 of 10 from long range.

Jordan McLaughlin and Ricky Rubio each finished with 13 points, and Naz Reid had 10 points.

But Malik Beasley struggled from the field shooting 4-for-15 and finishing with only 11 points after averaging 24.6 points per game over his previous seven.

Things got worse on the injury front for the Timberwolves on Tuesday.

According to ESPN, Minnesota is expected to be without guard D'Angelo Russell for the next 4-6 weeks after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Russell is averaging 19.3 points and 5.1 assists in 20 games this season.

--Field Level Media
 

[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.