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Rui Hachimura’s sobering 6-word message sums up Lakers’ Game 5 woes

Originally posted on NBA on ClutchPoints
By Jedd Pagaduan | Last updated May 1, 2025 3:32 AM ET

What started off as such a promising season has ended in yet another heartbreak for the Los Angeles Lakers. On Wednesday night, they were eliminated from the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 103-96 win in Game 5 of their first-round matchup. This is shaping up to be a crucial offseason for the Lakers, although they will at least now get a proper opportunity to build a roster that fits well around Luka Doncic.

In an admission of defeat, Lakers forward Rui Hachimura could not have summed up better what went wrong for them in their elimination-game loss.

“We need somebody to get rebounds,” Hachimura said in his postgame presser, via @big_business_on X (formerly Twitter). “I got to be one of them. … I can’t just be face-to-face, posting up Gobert the whole game. I can’t get a rebound. That’s the whole thing. He’s 7’2″, 7’5″ wingspan, whatever. He’s a big man.”

"we need somebody to get rebounds"

-Rui Hachimura on the Wolves vs Lakers series

pic.twitter.com/WTCA2wtfc4

— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod (@big_business_) May 1, 2025

This was a major problem for the Lakers following the Anthony Davis trade, and they tried to rectify the situation by acquiring Mark Williams. But then Williams (purportedly) didn’t pass his physical and the Lakers decided to just push through to the rest of the season with Jaxson Hayes as the only nominal center in their rotation. Alex Len didn’t provide any help whatsoever, while Christian Koloko and Trey Jemison aren’t exactly those any contending team would want to rely on in the playoffs.

Lakers tried to plug one leak and ended up opening up other holes

Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) gets the rebound against Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) and forward LeBron James (23) during the second half in game five of first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena. Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Timberwolves exposed the Lakers’ Achilles heel all series long; lacking a true center (or even a big man, for that matter) to combat the Timberwolves’ size, the Lakers had to resort to double-teaming on the perimeter and playing a sort of zone defense to prevent Minnesota from launching an all-out assault on the paint.

But even with Minnesota building a house with all the bricks they threw up in Game 5, they still managed to escape with a win on the road thanks to their dominance on the glass that had Rudy Gobert looking like Wilt Chamberlain out on the court.

“The problem was, I think, ‘coz we trying to help cover, put on two guys, and the other guy diving into the offensive rebound and it’s easy. Gobert’s not the only guy who can get rebounds for them. Most of their starting five except Mike Conley can get a rebound. That was the game,” Hachimura added.

This article first appeared on NBA on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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