Everything that went wrong with LA Lakers in horrendous 2025 NBA playoffs first-round loss to Minnesota Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves may have caused one of the biggest upsets in recent memory after outclassing the LA Lakers in the 2025 NBA playoffs' first round. Almost everyone who wasn't a Timberwolves fan picked the Lakers to win this series, who entered the matchup with a homecourt advantage, arguably the greatest player of all-time, LeBron James, and arguably a top-three active superstar, Luka Doncic.

However, Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert, and others had different plans as they honed in on their status as some of the top stars in the NBA. The underdogs ran circles around a star-studded and uber-talented Lakers team, which had won 50 regular-season games for the first time in five years and seemed like one of the favorites to come out of the Western Conference despite their short turnaround after the blockbuster Luka Doncic trade.

It only took the Timberwolves five games to prove everybody wrong about their predictions after a 103-96 win in Wednesday's Game 5 saw them send the Lakers home for good.

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2025 NBA playoffs: What went wrong for the LA Lakers in shocking loss to Minnesota Timberwolves

#1 Jaxson Hayes was a non-factor against Rudy Gobert

The Lakers only had one true big man on their roster, Jaxson Hayes. Alex Len, in his limited regular-season minutes, never made a lasting impact to earn playoff minutes. With averages of 1.8 points and 2.0 rebounds with a 37.5% field goal conversion rate, it didn't take long for Redick to avoid playing Hayes for prolonged stretches.

His lack of offense and rim protection made him a liability on both ends, forcing LA to play big wings at center, who were much smaller players to guard the likes of Rudy Gobert, Naz Reid and Julius Randle, or handle the rim pressure from Anthony Edwards.

The talk before the series was centered around Rudy Gobert getting played off the floor, but Hayes faced that early in this matchup.

#2 Timberwolves 3rd option outclassing Austin Reaves

One of the biggest swing factors in this series for the Lakers was Austin Reaves' offensive ceiling. Most expected him to thrive after potentially being matched up against Mike Conley. However, Conley stood his ground. Reaves never exploited the matchup and was a liability on defense.

Reaves averaged 16.2 ppg and 3.6 assists but shot only 41.1%, including 31.9% from 3. He didn't have the thrust that the Timberwolves' third option, Jaden McDaniels, brought to the table.

McDaniels averaged 17.4 ppg while guarding LeBron, Doncic and Reaves, shooting 57.4%, including 37.5% from 3 and was arguably the best two-way player in this series.

#3 Luka Doncic's defense and Anthony Edwards' playmaking

The Lakers banked on Anthony Edwards' not-so-well-known playmaking skills to work in their favor. However, Edwards surprisingly won that battle. They blitzed him and forced him into spots with their strong side zones, mainly because of Luka Doncic's defensive deficiencies.

But that backfired as Edwards turned out to be the best table-setter in a matchup against Doncic and LeBron James. Doncic never provided any resistance, compromising LA's help defense, which created a four vs. three advantage for the Wolves.

Edwards finished the series with 31 assists in five games. Barring a 0-assist outing in Game 2, he had at least six in every other game, including five in the final contest.

#4 Lack of depth

The Lakers never had the depth to match the Timberwolves' bench. At best, LA had six rotation players it could rely on. On the other hand, the Wolves had eight players to lean on. The Lakers' bench averaged 11.0 points on 32.2% shooting in 14.0 minutes.

On the other hand, Naz Reid alone outscored the Lakers' second unit, averaging 11.9 ppg, shooting 52.6%, including 50.0% from 3. The Wolves' bench in total averaged 26.8 ppg, playing 15.1 minutes.

#5 Rookie JJ Redick got outcoached

One of the primary reasons for the Lakers' offense never striking the right chords was because of their lack of playcalling. Rookie coach JJ Redick allowed his generationally talented offensive players to hunt mismatches and play freelance at will, which was easy to guard for an exceptional defensive team like the Timberwolves.

With nine players, including five defenders watching the ball, Doncic or James never threatened the team that could guard one through five (at least in this series).

#6 LeBron James and Luka Doncic's struggles in the clutch

LeBron James and Luka Doncic had a forgettable fourth-quarter series. The duo never hit their ceiling in any of the games. James averaged 5.3 points in the fourth quarter but shot a measly 35.0%, while Doncic was worse with 5.0 points, shooting 29.4%. The Lakers scored 20 or fewer in every fourth quarter of the series, averaging 17.0 ppg on 29.3% shooting, while the Timberwolves scored 25.4 ppg on 44.0% shooting in the final 12 minutes of every game.