Lakers, Five takeaways from victory over the Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night, and there was more evidence of the way this team will play this season.

A second stellar performance from Rudy Gobert and a big second half from Anthony Edwards, here are five lessons we took during the victory against the Lakers.

Rudy Gobert is worth the cost of admission

Gobert was a huge player for the Timberwolves with 22 points and grabbing 21 rebounds. Gobert was especially effective in the offensive sphere with eight offensive boards, including one after Edwards missed a shot at 57.6 seconds remaining which left the Wolves ahead of 107-99.

Gobert’s presence was also a source of trouble in the game, while Anthony Davis sat out with tightness in his lower back, which limited his Lakers down to 41.6 percent shooting throughout the game.

There are times when the Timberwolves seem to be imposing glances at Gobert offensively however that’s something that’s still in the process of being worked out. After just six matches, Gobert is averaging 15.0 points and 15.2 rebounds which has been a huge help to the Timberwolves in the early stages.

KAT is currently settling into the four

It’s not an easy task for Karl-Anthony towns to get used to playing alongside Gobert but the game on Friday was a first step in the positive direction.

Towns hit the floor at the end of the fourth scoring 14, including 21 of them, in the last period, while shooting 6-for-9 and two three-pointers. Towns also racked up seven assists and eight rebounds and aided his transition to power forward following the game.

“I don’t get no ego in this. I just want to win,” Towns stated. “I’ve said that since Day 1. People question it, and I don’t know why. I think I’ve proved it in my actions and the way my career has played out so far. I’ve always put this team and this organization first, even when it wasn’t the cool thing.”

Gobert also expressed his appreciation for Town’s determination to help make this transition happen, and this could prove to be beneficial when the two players become familiar with Timberwolf’s new offense.

Anthony Edwards is on a mission this season.

The first half did not go well for Edwards but the second period was an extension of his great start to the season.

Edwards had 23 points out of 29 in the first period and missed a free throw in the last second which would have earned him an unbeaten streak of 30 points.

In the first six contests, Edwards averages a record-setting 23.8 points. He also has 6.8 rebounds along with 4.2 assists. He’s scoring 47 percent on the ground and making 35.3 percent of his 3-pointers.

If Edwards keeps playing as he has been it may be an outstanding year for the no. one overall selection at the time of the 2020 NBA Draft.

The game of pick-and-roll needs to be improved.

When Towns, Edwards, and Gobert all had good nights The same cannot be said about D’Angelo Russel.

It was the Timberwolf’s point guard who was just 4-for-15 in the game and was just 2-for-7 from 3-point range. While he did find other ways to score including six steals and seven assists, there’s more to expect from his offensive play and he scored only 11 points for the night.

One possibility is that one reason could be the Timberwolves have been working on removing the kinks on offense in which case Russell must find the game of pick-and-roll he played with Jarret Allen while in Brooklyn. Six weeks into this season and we’re able to assume that Russell will be at ease with Gobert at some point and then start to perform better offensively.