Anthony Davis dominates as Lakers down depleted Timberwolves

A dominant 20-20 game by Anthony Davis led the Lakers to an impressive win over the Timberwolves on Sunday.

With the Timberwolves dealing with key injuries, Sunday’s game had all the makings for a classic trap game. The team needed to secure this win, and they did just that, 120-109.

A balanced attack, with the entire starting lineup scoring in double figures, helped cap off the win, but Anthony Davis dominated.

AD filled out the stat sheet from top to bottom, scoring 27 points with 25 rebounds, five assists, a career-high seven steals and three blocks. LeBron James found his offense in the second half and ended the game with 29 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds.

Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and D’Angelo Russell combined for 47 points and 13 assists.

It was a fast and fun pace to start with both teams gelling offensively. The Lakers were passing the ball to perfection with AD and LeBron doing most of the distributing. Much of the first quarter had both teams not gaining any momentum over each other.

The matched energy and offense saw the Lakers build a five-point lead that didn’t last. The Wolves were able to find their shots from poor defensive effort from LA. The Lakers managed to go up four at the end of the first.

The second quarter began with both teams continuing their strong offensive showing with a lack of defense that wasn’t allowing either team to build a big lead. A welcomed sight was Jaxson Hayes’ productive minutes with him scoring seven points for LA’s bench that often struggles to produce.

Naz Reid was the x-factor for the Wolves, drilling five 3-pointers in the first half. Austin's series of brilliant moves led to a layup that wowed the crowd.

But no matter how many times the Lakers started to find some steam, the Wolves answered back. LA was able to get a very tiny lead of one at the half.

The second half saw LeBron find his offense, which was lacking in the first half. He threw down a dunk that looked like he had launched off of dynamite for an explosion. The Lakers began to find some much-needed momentum thanks partly to their defense finally showing up.

With eight minutes left in the quarter, a 13-2 run gave LA a double-digit lead. The Timberwolves battled back with an 8-0 run to cut the lead to five.

Turnovers were starting to hinder LA’s lead and the Timberwolves made it a three-point game. As the quarter was winding down, each team took turns with a one-point lead until a last-second floater by Luka Garza gave the Timberwolves a one-point lead to end the third.

The fourth started close but a sudden 11-2 run gave the Lakers an eight-point lead at the 8:59 mark. The run stretched out for the Lakers to grab a 16-point lead. AD was up to 10 offensive rebounds leading to a dominant 20-20 game, which is an incredible feat considering he couldn’t move his arm last game.

The game was beginning to get away from the Timberwolves who were not lacking with their defense but couldn't string together a run to save their lives. Of course, they did eventually find a little surge to make it a 10-point deficit. It wasn’t enough as the Lakers held it together and the Timberwolves waved the white flag for garbage time.

Key Takeaways:

The turnovers were atrocious. I don’t even want to talk about how atrocious they were.

Anthony Davis took full advantage of the Timberwolves missing Rudy Gobert. He was the best player on the floor, doing a little bit of everything.

If the starting lineup could always score in double figures, they’ll grab many more wins. They still need better production off the bench.

The Lakers’ next game is Wednesday against the Sacramento Kings at 7:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.