Timberwolves knock out Lakers, advance to Western Conference semifinals

LOS ANGELES For the second time in as multiple seasons Minnesota has won a playoff series And it did so again by taking down one of the encounter s titans A year after unceremoniously bouncing Kevin Durant and his Phoenix crew in four games the Wolves dispatched LeBron James and the Lakers in five winning Challenge - in Los Angeles on Wednesday to secure a - series supremacy And they have Rudy Gobert to thank for it It feels good Gobert commented But it s about winning Two points six points it s about winning After playing a marginal role in the series through four games and not being on the floor to close either Encounter or Match Gobert exploded for points and rebounds both career highs It was all necessary on a night where Minnesota couldn t buy an outside shot The Wolves were biblically bad from -point range The Wolves went for from distance Wednesday Anthony Edwards went just for from the field Luka Doncic suffered a back injury on a drive to the bucket with minute to play in the second quarter He left the tournament directly after shooting the free throws only to return with apparent limited mobility to open the third Over the discipline of the season I felt it was getting harder and harder for them to keep me off the boards Gobert mentioned But Doncic went on to explode in that frame scoring points to breathe life back into the Lakers Los Angeles even took the lead at one point in the quarter Yet Minnesota was able to endure it all Because Gobert even countered the Doncic tidal wave in the third with a nine-point eight-rebound quarter In the final frame Gobert and Julius Randle took turns purely bullying the Lakers on the interior Randle finished with points In the end the Wolves were exclusively too big too fast and too strong for the Lakers and they sent them home in five games because of it Minnesota will play either Houston or Golden State in the Western Conference semifinals The start date of that series is to be determined Related Articles Rudy Gobert continues to drive Wolves defensive success against Lakers Timberwolves no longer underdogs against Lakers Is that cause for concern Will Timberwolves Rudy Gobert struggle against Lakers small-ball lineup Rudy Gobert ties career high with as Minnesota dismantles Brooklyn Jace Frederick It s time to learn about these Timberwolves