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Full schedule set for Timberwolves-Lakers series: Tip times, TV channels

There are plenty of days off set for this first-round series between the West's No. 3 and 6 seeds.
Will Ragatz|
Dec 13, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura (28) drives on Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid (11) in the second quarter at Target Center.
Dec 13, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura (28) drives on Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid (11) in the second quarter at Target Center. | Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

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Minnesota Timberwolves

The full schedule is set for the first-round playoff series between the No. 3 seed Los Angeles Lakers and the No. 6 seed Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference.

  • Game 1 (LA): Saturday, April 19, 7:30 p.m. CT, ABC
  • Game 2 (LA): Tuesday, April 22, 9:00 p.m. CT, TNT
  • Game 3 (MN): Friday, April 25, 8:30 p.m. CT, ESPN
  • Game 4 (MN): Sunday, April 27, 2:30 p.m. CT, ABC
  • Game 5 (LA): Wednesday, April 30, time/channel TBD (if necessary)
  • Game 6 (MN): Friday, May 2, time/channel TBD (if necessary)
  • Game 7 (LA): Sunday, May 4, time/channel TBD (if necessary)

Notably, there are two days off between Games 1 and 2, between Games 2 and 3, and between Games 4 and 5. That's fairly unusual for a first-round series. For some contrast, in the series between the top-seeded Thunder and the No. 8 seed, the only instance of two consecutive days off would come between Games 5 and 6 if the series goes that long.

Wolves-Lakers Game 1 on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena caps a four-game slate on ESPN/ABC to kick off the first round of the playoffs. Game 2 is a standalone affair on TNT after two games earlier in the evening.

Target Center should be raucous for Game 3, which is a late local time tipoff on Friday the 25th (and once again the last game of the night in the NBA). Sunday's matinee Game 4 is part of a four-game slate that day. If Games 5, 6, and/or 7 are needed, it feels like a safe bet that they'd be in prime time. That's usually the case when the Lakers are involved.

The Wolves-Lakers winner will play the winner of the 2-7 series between the Rockets and the Warriors, who defeated the Grizzlies 121-116 in Tuesday night's play-in tournament action. The Grizzlies will play the Kings-Mavericks winner on Friday for the right to be the 8 seed.

Here are the schedules for the other first-round series in the West:

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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