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The Lakers take on the Timberwolves in the season opener for both teams on Tuesday evening at Crypto.com Arena. Below are three things to know ahead of the matchup:
REDICK READY
JJ Redick completed his first preseason with rave internal reviews, as each player, to a man, has had something positive to say about the preparation, communication ability and competitiveness of their new head coach.
“He’s been super supportive of every guy on the team,” said Max Christie, who will be one of the first subs off the bench against the Wolves. “He’s done a great job at helping us be the best version of ourselves.”
If the six preseason games were homework assignments for Redick, the first exam comes on Tuesday. And while there were only a few quarters where Redick had his entire starting lineup* and bench rotation** intact, he feels the team is ready for the opener.
*D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James and Anthony Davis will start.
**Max Christie, Jaxson Hayes, Gabe Vincent and Dalton Knecht could make up the initial bench rotation.
“Overall, I’m encouraged by the growth that we’ve had as a group,” Redick said after the preseason finale. “Our group is ready to play the regular season. We’ll have two practices on Sunday and Monday to sharpen some things up, and to have a couple new installs for different defensive coverages. But our group is ready to play. As a whole, we’ve built a foundation to go play a regular season game.”
DOMINANT DAVIS
After playing a critical role for Team USA in the gold medal run in Paris over the summer, Anthony Davis came into Lakers training camp in terrific shape, and showed off his prowess in playing four of LA’s six preseason games. In fact, Davis ranked second in the NBA in preseason scoring with his 21.8 points per game in 25.6 minutes, while still doing what he does on defense.
“I think that he, every year, he doesn’t get the credit that he deserves for what he does for our team,” said Austin Reaves after Davis dropped 35 points at Phoenix. “He’s the staple for our team – he does everything, offensively and defensively … he plays like a guard at times, and he also has unbelievable hands, so if you’re driving on a pick and roll, you can throw the ball anywhere, any speed and he’s going to catch it and finish. You can’t ever say enough about what he does for us, and flies under the radar, doesn’t ever really take the credit. So I’ll always give him that.”
Davis will be primed for the matchup against Minnesota, as Rudy Gobert was awarded his 4th DPOY last season, an honor for which Davis had a terrific case. Last season, Davis averaged 23.8 points on 56.7% FG’s with 13.5 boards, 5.0 assists, 2.0 blocks and 3.3 steals in 32.3 minutes against Minnesota.
WOLVES SCOUTING REPORT
Minnesota advanced to the Western Conference Finals last season after beating Phoenix and then Denver, before falling to the Mavs to stall out what was their second-best season in franchise history. As such, when the Wolves made a major move in trading Karl Anthony-Towns to the Knicks for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, some were surprised.
Minnesota is confident that the move can give them flexibility in the future without hurting them in the present, however, and is eager to show that Randle can slide right into KAT’s starting slot and be productive. A more versatile playmaker than Towns, if not his equal as a shooter, Randle gives the Wolves some additional shot creation behind their primary engine, Anthony Edwards. Gobert, defensive ace Jaden McDaniels and Mike Conley make up the rest of the starting lineup, while Naz Reid – the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year – leads a strong bench group including tough guards DiVincenzo and Nikeil Alexander-Walker. Joe Ingles and lottery pick Rob Dillingham – who scored 21 points on 20 FGA’s in the preseason opener against the Lakers – and/or Josh Minott could also see bench action in what’s typically a 9-man rotation from coach Chris Finch.
“Randle is a terrific player, DiVincenzo is a terrific player,” said Redick. “To me, it still starts with Anthony Edwards, and it still starts with trying to figure out ways to attack their defense. Not only do they have the Defensive Player of the Year in Gobert, but they have pitbulls on the wings. McDaniels, Edwards, Alexander-Walker … Naz Reid coming off the bench … they have a lot of really good players.”
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