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The Los Angeles Lakers will be well-rested when they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday after blowing out the Golden State Warriors 128-97 at the Chase Center on Monday.
The Lakers had five names on their injury report on Monday, including two starters in Anthony Davis and Marc Gasol, and a key reserve in Alex Caruso. The Warriors obviously have a high-profile injury of their own with Klay Thompson, but their team was more complete than the Lakers’ on Monday. Unfortunately for the Warriors, that wasn’t reflected on the score board, or in the box score.
Even without their second-leading scorer, the Lakers’ offense was rolling against the Warriors. As a team, the Lakers shot a season-high 62.8% from the field and 40.7% from behind the arc. All five Lakers that attempted at least five field goals shot above 50% from the field, including Montrezl Harrell, who led Los Angeles with a season-high 27 points while shooting a stellar 11-14 from the field. In fact, Harrell didn’t miss a shot until his 10th attempt.
As impressive as Harrell’s stat line was, he wasn’t the only player on the Lakers’ bench to turn in a memorable performance. Kyle Kuzma, who recorded 24 points and 13 rebounds off of the bench on Friday, had another strong outing on Monday, scoring 17 points on 7-11 shooting from the field. Meanwhile, Talen Horton-Tucker had his most impactful game in weeks, tallying 18 points and 10 assists, both of which are career-highs.
Oh, and LeBron James had a 22-point, 11-assist, 10-rebound triple-double.
The Lakers (26-13) closed the gap between themselves and the No. 2 seeded Phoenix Suns with a win on Monday, but more importantly, they gave a few players an opportunity to build their confidence. Hopefully Wesley Matthews can have a big game somewhere in the near future too.
The Lakers will now head back to Los Angeles, where they’ll host the Timberwolves for the third and final time this season on Tuesday. The Lakers are 2-0 against the Timberwolves this season.
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