3 takeaways from Timberwolves' Game 3 victory over Lakers

The Minnesota Timberwolves took a 2-1 series lead and put the Los Angeles Lakers on their heels with their 116-104 victory in Game 3 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series Friday night at Target Center in Minneapolis.

The third meeting between the sides was the most exciting and best game of the series. There was plenty of back and forth, brilliant individual performances and the game went right down to the wire. And just like the first two games of the series, it revealed plenty more about the two teams. Here are three takeaways from the series following Friday's Game 3:

Jaden McDaniels is an ascending two-way star

McDaniels has built his reputation on the defensive end of the court, and for good reason, as he's one of the NBA's best perimeter defenders. But it might just be time to consider McDaniels a true two-way star, not just a lockdown defender.

In addition to the unenviable task of being the primary defender on Lakers star Luka Doncic, McDaniels led the Wolves and matched a career high with 30 points. He also added five rebounds, two steals, an assist and had just one turnover. He shot 13 for 22 from the field and played 38 minutes. And when defended by McDaniels on Friday, Doncic scored just two points on 2-for-7 shooting and had four assists and two turnovers. Anthony Edwards isn't sure how he can do it all.

“I told (McDaniels) maybe like two years ago, ‘I don’t understand what type of shape you in. I don’t know what you do in the summertime,’" Edwards said. "Because — do he ever look tired to y’all? I know he don’t show any emotion, but you can tell when somebody’s tired. Like when you watch me, going into the end of the first quarter, I’m trying to catch my breath. Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he can play 48 minutes, so I don’t know. It’s incredible.”

McDaniels said he's attacking what the Lakers are giving him with all the attention they're focusing on Edwards and Julius Randle, but he's transcended past being just a capable offensive player to being a threat every time he touches the ball. And that hasn't just developed this series, where he's averaging 21 points per game. When the Wolves were down Randle and Donte DiVincenzo in February, McDaniels averaged 18.5 points per game. He can produce like this on a nightly basis.

As far as never getting tired?

"I condition in the summertime, but other than that, I don't do that much conditioning. I think it's just the compete factor, just I gotta hoop, play against some of the best players in the world, so just having fun with it," McDaniels said.

LeBron James can still be the best player on the court

Perhaps stating the obvious here, but James continues to do the unprecedented. He's never missed a playoff game, and Friday's was his 290th. And not only did he play in the game, James was still the best player on the court at 40 years old.

On a night his star teammate Doncic was under the weather, James took complete control and nearly willed the Lakers to victory. It seemed like he might get them there when he drilled a trio of deep 3-pointers while Los Angeles battled back in the fourth quarter to tie the game with under five minutes to go. At that point, it felt like James wouldn't miss another shot.

"He was incredible," Edwards said of James. "He did everything in his power to try and will them to a win. He was shooting it from Yucatan. He was shooting it crazy, for sure."

James finished with a game-high 38 points on 13-for-21 shooting and added 10 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals AND had just one turnover in a whopping 41 minutes. It's truly greatness you just can't help but to appreciate.

"He's still going," Naz Reid said. "... He's 40 years old, not many people do that. Mike (Conley) close. Mike is close. But yeah, it's LeBron, so kind of something you might not expect, but still do."

What was almost thought impossible has just become the expectation for James, and he still meets it at 40 years old.

Edwards shows his best in closing effort

Edwards was a nominee for the NBA's Clutch Player of the Year Award, which may have raised eyebrows to close watchers of the Wolves aware of his 3-for-12 shooting in the last 10 seconds of clutch games or of his poor decision-making, at times, down the stretch in games. But Edwards and the Wolves delivered their best closing effort of the season in Game 3.

For his part, Edwards hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 4:19 remaining, assisted on Reid's 3 just over a minute later that put them up six before beating James off the dribble for a layup and a 111-104 lead with 2:18 to go. His jumper with just over a minute remaining to put them up nine was ultimately the dagger, though McDaniels added another 3 for good measure.

"Obviously, Ant was huge. Made some dagger shots," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said.

In the fourth quarter, Edwards scored seven points on 3-for-6 shooting, adding three rebounds, two assists and a block to ultimately finish his night with 29 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, two steals and the block. Edwards also played a key role in a stifling defensive effort that allowed the Wolves to close the game on a 13-1 run. They won the fourth 30-20.

But in Edwards' view, the driver of the strong closing effort was all his teammate, to bring it back to where we started.

"I got two words for you: Jaden McDaniels. It's just that simple," he said.