Once again, excitement became embarrassment.
Once again, a promise was broken.
Once again, the Lakers weren’t fast enough or skilled enough or deep enough or strong enough.
Once again, blowing up in the first round of the playoffs for the third time in five years, the Lakers just weren’t good enough.
But it’s rarely felt this bad.
Rarely has Crypto.com Arena been as quiet while a playoff game was being played as it was Wednesday in the final minute of a 103-96 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
With 39 seconds left, fans silently filled the aisles and literally turned their back on their beloved Lakers, who historically dropped this first-round series four games to one.
Historically, because it was the first time the Lakers have lost a first-round series as a three-seed or higher.
No, they have never folded this dramatically.
“Disappointment,” said LeBron James. “Unfulfillment.”
Read more:Lakers’ season comes to a disappointing end with first-round loss to Timberwolves
He could say that again. Disappointment in that they had finished the season as one of the best teams in the league. Unfulfillment in that many thought they were worthy of a march toward a championship.
They lost even though they had thrilled their fans and frightened the league with their February addition of Luka Doncic.
They lost even though 40-year-old James was inspired by the addition of his son, Bronny, and had one of his most complete seasons ever.
They lost even though Austin Reaves had a breakout season as a scorer worthy of giving the Lakers a legitimate Big Three.
They lost even though it was generally agreed that JJ Redick was having an outstanding rookie season.
They lost because Minnesota was everything they wanted to be, but were not.
They lost because Minnesota was tougher in the clutch, out-scoring the Lakers by 42 points in the series’ five fourth quarters.
They lost because Minnesota wasn’t about the hype, the Timberwolves were about the struggle, the battle for each possession, doubling their second-chance points on Wednesday, competing in each individual battle as if it were their last.
They lost because Minnesota was stronger in the paint, dominating the Lakers so thoroughly that Wednesday’s game-leading scorer was defensive specialist Rudy Gobert, who had 27 points and 24 rebounds against a defenseless Laker interior.
Minnesota was more of a team, more collaborative, more together, more committed.
“They were just the better team this series, to be honest,” said Dorian Finney-Smith.
To be honest, the game was played as if the Lakers were already beaten, as if their pregame chant was a reprise of former guard Nick Van Exel’s infamous “1-2-3 Cancun!” chant in 1998 before the Lakers were swept by the Utah Jazz.
The Lakers were on the brink of elimination, yet it was the Timberwolves who played with desperation. The Lakers were on the verge of ending their season on their home court, yet it was the Timberwolves who played with all the passion.
The Timberwolves jumped to a 14-point lead in the first quarter and settled into a 10-point lead at halftime with an even bigger edge in body language.
The Lakers came back to briefly take the lead at the end of the third quarter, and even led by a point on a Doncic rainbow jumper with 6:29 remaining, but what ensued was typical of a team that had no idea how to play with their backs against the wall.
James airball. Gobert follow-up dunk. Maxi Kleber — what was he doing in the game? — miss. James miss. Doncic miss. James miss. Kleber stepped on the baseline. And so on.
The game ended appropriately with Minnesota’s Naz Reid grabbing an offensive rebound off a Timberwolves missed free throw attempt and hugging the ball like Minnesota hugged this victory.
That fourth quarter showed some of the Lakers vulnerability, starting with James’ age. He clearly wore down, as he made just two baskets in the last two fourth quarters.
Then there was Reaves, who had a generally lousy series with five baskets in the four fourth quarters and eight of 10 missed pointers in the deciding game.
Read more:Plaschke: JJ Redick for Dan Hurley was the Lakers’ trade of the year
“You can point the finger at me,” Reaves said. “I didn’t play good enough for us to be successful.”
Reaves is right. He was their biggest disappointment. But help could be coming for all of them.
While any first-round loss is a stain on the Lakers’ legacy, at least this loss comes with hope.
Hope that this team is not far from being a championship team. Hope that this coach is not far from being an outstanding coach. Hope that they are closer to greatness than this loss to the Timberwolves would indicate.
Remember, for all of their veteran savvy, this team is still a relative toddler, the two best players having been together barely three months and their coach in his first year.
“We just probably need a little more time together,” said Finney-Smith.
James and Doncic will mesh better next season if both return, and both are expected to return.
James has all but confirmed that he wants to end his career as a Lakers, so he’s not expected to use his player option to flee, and he’s aged so incredibly, even his biggest critics must admit that he should stay.
In recent years, this space has repeatedly called for James to be traded, but no more. This year he proved that his entertainment value outweighs any burden his contract places on the roster, and now that he has the exciting Doncic as his running mate, his veteran leadership could actually lead to one more title in the probable two years before he calls it quits.
“I don’t have an answer to that,” said James late Wednesday when asked about retirement. “We’ll see.”
He always says that. And he’s always returned.
Doncic could also leave by expressing such unhappiness that the Lakers would be forced to trade him before his contract expires after next season, but he seems to like it here.
Doncic has constantly expressed great respect for the franchise and its grandiose history, and this week he put his money behind that respect by contributing $5,000 to the restoration of a graffiti-scarred Kobe Bryant mural. This, after he paid for parking for many Laker fans on the night of his Lakers debut.
Doncic is a top-five talent, he’s fun, he’s embraceable, he’s the perfect person to lead the Lakers into the next era.
If Doncic is actually given a preseason to work with James and Reaves, who knows what they can accomplish?
“Anytime you make a big acquisition in the middle of the season it’s always going to be challenging,” said James. “The whole dynamic changed. I still don’t think we had enough time to mesh.”
All they need is … you guessed it … a center.
Read more:Plaschke: I was wrong. Drafting Bronny James was a win for the Lakers
“No comment,” said James. “My guy A.D. said what he needed and he was gone the following week.”
And thus Rob Pelinka, their newly minted president of basketball operations with a newly extended contract, has been giving his summer marching orders.
Find somebody who will ensure that Rudy Gobert doesn’t become Michael Jordan.
Find the one big thing that would also maximize Doncic’s talent and take this team to the next level.
Luka needs a lob partner. He needs a rim protector. He needs the sort of big man that he had in Dallas when he led the Mavs to that improbable NBA Finals appearance.
Everyone thought the Lakers had this big man this winter when Pelinka followed Doncic’s stunning acquisition with a trade for Charlotte’s Mark Williams.
But then the Lakers got cold feet. They worried that they overpaid for Williams, worried that he was too immature for their smart veteran system, and eventually that worry turned a bad physical exam into a deal killer.
They gave Williams back to Charlotte, and Jaxson Hayes was given the job, and by Wednesday night he wasn’t even trusted to play a minute, and so now Pelinka is back to square one.
Find a center.
“We couldn’t get rebounds,” said Rui Hachimura. “We need somebody to get rebounds.”
The Lakers so obviously need that somebody, on Wednesday night they were even trolled by Williams himself on X.
Redick should also be better next season. He was surprisingly adept in his rookie year as a head coach at any level, but he scuffled in the postseason. He was publicly questioned by Magic Johnson after the Lakers Game 1 loss, and then he was questioned by the rest of the basketball world after playing the same five players the entire second half of the Game 4 loss.
Redick reacted to the most recent criticism before Wednesday night’s game by barking back at a media questioner who seemed to imply that he needed to rely more on the wisdom of his veteran assistant coaches.
“Are you saying that I’m because I’m inexperienced and that was an ‘inexperienced’ decision that I made?” Redick asked. “You think I don’t talk to my assistants about rotations every single timeout?”
The questioner responded, “No, I just think a lot of coaches lean on their assistants in those situations.”
Redick fired back, saying, “As do I. Every single time. That’s a weird assumption.”
With that, Redick walked out of the press conference. That was probably going to be the last question anyway, but it was a bad look that Redick left before it officially ended.
“I can get a lot better,” Redick said of his rookie year.
His team thought he was just fine.
“JJ will continue to grow,” said James. “He had a helluva campaign for a rookie coach. I thought he handled it extremely well.”
These Lakers should continue to grow. They’d better. For all of their success, for all of their promise, the 2024-25 season can only be summed up one way.
They were entertaining, they were intriguing and they were a failure.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
