The Lakers 248 Podcast's LA-Minnesota Play-In Game Mega-Preview
Tonight, your Los Angeles Lakers will square off against the banged-up and internally-conflicted Minnesota Timberwolves for the right to play the Memphis Grizzlies this weekend, in what's sure to be an exciting 7-8 Western Conference play-in matchup.
The Timberwolves will be missing starting small forward Jaden McDaniels and pricey starting center Rudy Gobert, plus reserve big man Naz Reid. There's a chance star power forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns and backup shooting guard Jaylen Nowell may also not suit up. Beyond the availability of Lakers starters D'Angelo Russell, LeBron James and Anthony Davis (all probable to play), everyone else is healthy.
Our Lakers 248 Podcast crew -- Doug McKain, Noah Camras and Noel Sanchez -- convened today to unpack LA's chances heading into the game.
"You've got to be excited about the matchup obviously," Camras noted. "Anthony Edwards is just one of the rising stars in this game. He's going to be tough to defend. But here's there, KAT's there, another great rising star. Rudy Gobert won't be there, he got suspended for one game. Everyone's talking about Rudy Gobert not being there, I think the bigger is [starting small forward] Jaden McDaniels not being there. Obviously it sucked what happened with him, he punched a wall, fractured his hand, which is a huge bummer but also he kind of did it to himself."
"He's one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA," Camras continued. "He would completely mess things up for the Lakers, instead he's out [of] there. LeBron is going to absolutely eat. He's coming [off] an 8-for-14 game from deep, he looks on fire right now, so I think you've got to love the matchup. Of course there's the D-Lo revenge aspect, trying to beat the team he was a part of [last year in the postseason]. So I do like the matchup. Gobert's not being there means Anthony Davis should have a really nice time in the paint."
"You mentioned Jaden McDaniels, they don't have a puncher's chance without him," McKain responded. He is one of the better on-ball defenders, one of the best perimeter defenders in the game. To lose him is such a big blow for this team. But we've got to talk about Rudy Gobert... He's out, The French Suspension, he won't be there for the Timberwolves."
"I like their chances a lot, even [if] Gobert [was out] there, considering that his fit has been pretty horrible with them this year, and you can just tell that whole vibe is off for him to have to go out and punch his teammate in one of the most important games of the season, it's just not a good look," Sanchez opined. "Considering that [he] and D-Lo had a lot of problems before D-Lo was traded, that locker room has been a mess... I just feel like them not having Gobert might help them a bit, I still really like our [the Lakers'] chances, obviously like you said, not having Jaden McDaniels in the picture, but Edwards, he's going to be just chucking, he's going to go to work.... Not having McDaniels, I think that's going to be the key [to an LA victory]."
The group's mega-preview of tonight's play-in action is well worth watching in full. Never miss an episode when you subscribe to our YouTube page!
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