The Lakers looked locked in early, but things spiraled fast after that. Luka Doncic had himself a first quarter, pouring in 16 points with some smooth shooting—5-of-10 from the field and 3-of-6 from deep. That early burst helped L.A. snag a 28-21 lead. At that point, it looked like they might actually control the tempo. Spoiler: they didn’t. Once the second quarter hit, the Timberwolves flipped the switch. Minnesota clamped down on defense, and then Naz Reid happened.

If you blinked, you probably missed half his buckets. He racked up 17 points on a red-hot 6-of-8 shooting in the first half, hit four of his five threes, and even added five rebounds and a block. The dude was everywhere.

But tragedy struck in the 4th quarter. With 9:44 left in the game, things got messy. Naz Reid was hustling back to stop Jarred Vanderbilt’s fastbreak layup. But as Vando took off near the rim, his elbow smacked Reid right in the face—seemed like it caught him near the eye. And that was just the start of it.

The two ended up crashing into each other again mid-air. Reid fell into Vanderbilt’s lane and accidentally shoved his head into the court. Vando shook it off pretty quickly and even finished a putback 17 seconds later like he hadn’t just faceplanted.

But Reid? He wasn’t getting up right away. You could tell he was hurting bad. Eventually, he got up and made his way to the bench. Then a minute later, he headed to the locker room, which had everyone wondering if he was done for the night.

But checked back in later. Reid came right back after that scary moment and didn’t waste time making noise—first a clutch three, then a huge block. Dude went from wincing on the floor to flipping the momentum in two plays. In 31 gritty minutes, Reid put up 23 points, grabbed 5 boards, and dished out 2 assists. Not bad for a guy who hit the deck earlier.

Over their recent stretch, the reigning 6th man of the year and Jaden McDaniels couldn’t buy a bucket from deep. Reid had gone 6-for-27 (22%) from three over his last six games, while McDaniels was stuck at just 2-for-20 (10%) across seven. Not exactly what you’d call “lights out.”

But tonight? Total flip of the script for Wolves role players.

The two went off, draining 9 of their 12 attempts from beyond the arc. You read that right—9-of-12, after struggling for weeks. That hot shooting helped them combine for 48 points, nearly doubling their usual 26-point average. And honestly, that explosion set the tone for the night.

The Timberwolves blow past the Lakers, as Naz Reid shines in Game 1

Crypto.com Arena hadn’t hosted a Game 1 in over a decade, and the vibe? Electric. But the Lakers’ return to postseason home-court advantage didn’t go as fans hoped.

Luka Doncic came out hot in his first playoff game in purple and gold—free throws, a signature step-back three, and a layup to cap a personal 6-0 run. Rui Hachimura followed up with a pair of threes, keeping the Lakers in front. Between those two, they dropped L.A.’s first 20 points. Gabe Vincent and Dorian Finney-Smith added some juice off the bench with back-to-back triples to close the first up 28-21.

Then came the second, and that’s where things flipped. Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid sparked a run, with the Wolves snatching their first lead. LeBron finally snapped the dry spell with an and-one, but Minnesota dominated the glass and punished L.A. from deep. They couldn’t stop bleeding points.

A brief response came through a Doncic-to-Rui triple, but the defense kept collapsing. Reid hit another corner three, and Donte DiVincenzo’s buzzer-beater sent L.A. into halftime down 59-48.

The third opened with a Timberwolves 11-0 run—yikes. Edwards got going, splashing threes. L.A. did make a push late in the quarter, capped off by a Doncic half-court heave that woke up the crowd.

Early in the fourth, it felt like L.A. might flip the script. Doncic hit a three. Then Edwards returned from cramping, buried two daggers, and just like that—momentum gone. Wolves walked away with a loud 117-95 win.