NBA news: Luka Doncic and the LA Lakers counterpunch in game two

The Los Angeles Lakers silenced Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves in game two on Tuesday with a 94-85 victory, levelling the series.

With games three and four set to take place in Minnesota, it will be intriguing to witness whether the Wolves can overcome the LA Lakers on home court, after notoriously struggling in the early rounds at home in last year’s playoffs.

Film News Blitz and Sports News Blitz’s Aidan Leo assesses the talking points from the Lakers win in game two and weighs in on the points of concern the Wolves will need to address in Game Three.

Luka continues to deliver for the Lakers

Luka Doncic illustrated that he is the best player in this series thus far through his leadership qualities and galvanising performance that drove the Lakers to victory in Game Two.

Doncic led his team with one assist shy of a triple-double, ending the game with 31-12-9.

His three-ball on the day never got hot, but he was 11-11 from free throws, which was pivotal in the Lakers' overall accurate offensive display, particularly in the opening stages.

In those earlier stages, Doncic set the tone with 16 points in the first quarter.

The Lakers’ two Robins, LeBron James and Austin Reaves, had 21 and 16 points respectively.

James topped up his assistance to Doncic with 11 rebounds and seven assists.

Although statistically James has fared relatively well as a secondary option on his team in this series, his overall impact is not yet at the level we have come to expect pertaining to the King.

More defensive and overarching leadership quality and influence over his team will be a necessity if the Lakers are to wrap up this series in five or six games.

Doncic is the best player, but James is undoubtedly the leader.

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Ant-Man and his Wolves struggle

Game two saw Edwards and the team’s supplementary pieces struggle particularly with the adjustments Lakers’ Head Coach JJ Redick implemented.

Notably, the LA Lakers seemed to rush up to stifle Edwards, but upon receiving the ball they would retreat into a zone defensive set and crowd the paint to confuse him.

This adjustment caused Edwards problems all game.

Edwards noted this, per Yahoo Sports. He said, “It seemed every time I caught the ball, they kind of went like in a zone in a sense.”

“It was kind of confusing at times.”

Additionally, his team’s perimeter shooters were destitute on the day, so he was not able to force the ball to his flanks in times of trouble, as they had no luck either.

Contrastingly, the Wolves’ perimeter threats’ three-ball was boiling hot in Game One, however, many saw that as a singular occurrence.

Coach Redick seemed to be aware of this and that really showed on the day.

On the positive end, despite their offensive struggles, power forward Julius Randle did have 27 points, with six assists and four rebounds, but in the overall complexion of the game, it mattered not.

Interestingly, with regard to my aforementioned assessment of the Wolves, Edwards managed a 25-point outing but had no assists.

Evidently, this has not been the case for three years, which is a testament to the Lakers' defensive efficiency they displayed in the contest.

Even more alarmingly for the Wolves, this was their lowest-scoring display all season.

Going back to Minnesota with that in mind makes this series even more fascinating as to whether they will respond or sink in game three.

The lack of quality in the series

Bar Doncic, it must be said that so far the lack of quality, efficiency, and intensity has been below par in this series.

Conversely, the Lakers’ city compatriots, the Clippers are currently in a nail-biting contest that could go seven games against the Denver Nuggets.

The performances in that series are sharper and more precise.

However, we are only going into game three, so the nature of the contest could easily be heating up.

The big hitters in this series, two on the Lakers, and one on the Wolves, need to start or continue to drive the standard pertaining to the importance of this series.

It's playoff time and higher performance levels and vigour should be expected.

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