LOS ANGELES — Plenty of teams above the Lakers in the standings are falling apart down the stretch.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, they can’t seem to take advantage of all the losing around them.
The Lakers dropped a key gotta-have-it game Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, 110-102, as a late rally came up empty at Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers couldn’t gather much scoring beyond Anthony Davis, who had 38 points against one of the game’s best defensive big men, Rudy Gobert.
But only two other Lakers scored in double figures — Malik Beasley (15 points) and Lonnie Walker IV (10 points).
“I thought too many times we got caught up over-dribbling — not playing with any sense of urgency, any sense of pace,” Lakers Coach Darvin Ham said. “There was a time where it just looked like we were playing in mud.”
The Lakers (30-34) remained stuck in 11th place in the Western Conference, one spot below post-season contention. The top six West teams automatically qualify for playoffs while teams seven through 10 take part in the play-in tournament to determine two more playoff spots.
The Lakers were undeniably short-handed: LeBron James sat out a third consecutive game because of a tendon injury in his right foot and D’Angelo Russell sat out because of a sprained ankle.
“When our team is whole, we’ve shown what we can do,” Davis said. “Other guys have to step up until we get everyone back.”
It’s a frustrating exercise for the Lakers. They just can’t put together a winning streak to pass some of the falling teams ahead of them in the standings.
Ham was visibly frustrated in his post-game press conference.
“Energy, effort and urgency — we’ve been writing those words on the board,” he said. “[The Timberwolves] had that urgency. We didn’t.”
The Clippers (33-33) have lost five in a row, all since acquiring Russell Westbrook. Utah (31-33) gave up a lot of talent at the trade deadline and has lost back-to-back games to bottom-dwellers San Antonio and Oklahoma City. Minnesota (33-32) and New Orleans (31-33) haven’t been able to find consistency without superstars Karl Anthony-Towns and Zion Williamson, respectively.
The Timberwolves were consistent Friday thanks to Gobert, who had 22 points and 14 rebounds. Budding superstar Anthony Edwards added 19 points after making five three-pointers.
The Lakers trailed by 13 with eight minutes left but then Davis drilled a three-pointer and so did Malik Beasley, knocking the Minnesota lead down to six. The Lakers got as close as three, but no closer.
Minnesota guard Mike Conley made a three-pointer and a runner in the lane to put Minnesota up eight with 43 seconds left.
“We’ve got 18 games left and we’ve got to lock in,” Walker IV said.
Dennis Schroder had 12 assists and no turnovers for the Lakers, but he had a quiet scoring night, scratching out only six points and making three of 13 shots.
The Lakers’ next game is Sunday against the Golden State Warriors, who, wouldn’t you know it, are expected to get back Stephen Curry after he missed a month because of a lower-leg injury. The Warriors (34-30) have won five consecutive games to shoot up to fifth in the West.
-
