Lakers open season 0–5 after loss to Timberwolves.
The Lakers lose their 5th straight game to open up the new season, falling to the Timberwolves 111–102, committing a season-high 22 turnovers, which led to 25 Minnesota points.
“The biggest thing for me was the most glaring stat are the turnovers." We give them 22 turnovers and 25 points. "It's very hard to win in this league when that's the case,” said coach Darvin Ham.
For the first time this season, the Lakers were able to shoot over 30% from three, shooting a season-high 31% from behind the arc on 9-for-31 total.
Without Anthony Davis in the lineup (due to back pain), the Lakers looked to Damian Jones to start in his place and also decided to bring Russell Westbrook off the bench with his inconsistencies throughout the season.
Coach Ham liked what he saw from Westbrook tonight, saying he “kicked it up to the next level,” and also saw some carryover when he played alongside LeBron.
In tonight’s loss, LeBron became the all-time leader of the most 20-point games in NBA history, passing Hall of Famer Karl Malone for first with 1,125 20-point games.
LeBron finished with a team-high 28 points on 42% (10-for-24) shooting from the floor, adding 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals in 37 minutes.
Westbrook finished second on the Lakers with 18 points off the bench on 35% (6-for-17) shooting from the floor, adding 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and an impressive first-half effort for the Lakers.
The Lakers next game is back home this Sunday against the 4–2 Denver Nuggets at 6:30 PM on Spectrum SportsNet.
