Lakers Have to Snap Unfortunate Record to Get Past Timberwolves

The Los Angeles Lakers managed to split two games at home in their first-round playoff series with the Minnesota Timberwolves. As the third seed playing the sixth seed in this matchup, that means they lost the home-court advantage they originally had.

In order to win the series, the Lakers will have to win at least one game on the road in Minnesota. Unfortunately for them, that has been a struggle as of late.

A report from The Athletic points to the struggles the Lakers have had in Minnesota.

"The Lakers have lost four straight and seven of eight in Minnesota in the regular season. It’s been a house of horrors for them, at times. They need to expect Minnesota’s best haymakers this weekend."

The Lakers have four straight games in Minnesota, and seven of eight in the regular season. The playoffs are a different story, but either way, the Lakers will have to overcome past struggles if they want to advance in the playoffs.

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In the first away game this season against the Timberwolves this past season, the Lakers got crushed by a final score of 109-80. This was back on December 2, when the Lakers still had D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Davis.

They then lost 97-87 just 11 days later on December 13, showcasing a pattern of struggling to score in Minnesota. That has also been a pattern of this series so far, scoring 95 points in Game 1 and 94 in Game 2.

The Lakers' offense was supposed to be their strength, but the Timberwolves' defense has been winning so far. Including the two games of this series, the season series is now three wins and four losses for the Lakers against the Timberwolves.

If the Lakers want any chance to win on the road, they need to figure out how to score more points. So far in this series, the acquisition of Luka Doncic has helped, but he needs help from others, mainly LeBron James and Austin Reaves.

Other guys, such as Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith, also need to contribute more consistently, especially from beyond the arc on catch-and-shoot opportunities.

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On the bright side, the Lakers' roster is very different from the last time the two teams faced off in Minnesota. The two leading scorers for the Lakers in that game were Anthony Davis and Max Christie, who both were shipped to Dallas in the Luka Doncic trade.

Luka may be the x-factor for the team winning on the road in Minnesota. That sounds like an obvious statement, but given he led the Mavericks to the NBA finals last year as the fifth seed, he has plenty of experience leading his team to road victories in the playoffs.

It will be interesting to see if he can do the same with the Lakers against an extremely tough defense.

For more news and notes on the Los Angeles Lakers, visit Los Angeles Lakers on SI.