Lakers Have Clear Disadvantage Against the Timberwolves

Following a wild final day in the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers drew the Minnesota Timberwolves as their first-round playoff opponent. The Lakers will now get ready to take on the No. 6 Timberwolves, and they will do so with home-court advantage in the series.

However, the team does enter this series with a clear disadvantage. Due to the restructuring of the roster, Los Angeles hasn't faced Minnesota with their new cast.

The two sides did play against each other in March, but the Timberwolves were missing multiple key players. Due to this, the Lakers don't have much prior film to work off of as they prepare for the series.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick weighed in on this fact, offering some talking points. The Timberwolves at least got to see the Lakers at full strength, giving them an advantage over Los Angeles entering the matchup.

“We had games the last, six, seven weeks where we hadn’t played the team since [Anthony Davis] was on the team and didn’t have Luka [Doncic]. So we have a way of prepping based on previous games, previous games against Luka,” JJ Redick said Sunday. “We have a general idea of what their rules are, just like they have a general idea of what our rules are.”

Minnesota enters this series as one of the only teams in the NBA who ranks in the top 10 of both offense and defense. This will give the Lakers some fits, especially due to their overall size throughout the roster.

“It’s a very difficult opponent,” Redick said. “They’ve played as well as anyone lately. I believe they’re one of four teams in the top 10 in offense and defense. So they present a lot of problems.”

The two sides split the season series at 2-2, with each team taking both games on their home floors. But if the Lakers want to win this series, they may be forced to perform well on the road.

Minnesota has been on a roll of late, and could come into this series blazing. This Lakers team is a confident group, but they will need a total team effort if they want to advance to the next round of the playoffs.

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Jarred Vanderbilt Reacts to Lakers Facing Timberwolves in Playoffs

For more news and notes on the Los Angeles Lakers, visit Los Angeles Lakers on SI.