It hasn’t been an easy season for the Los Angeles Lakers. They had failed to even make it to the play-in tournament in the previous edition and once again had to battle through injuries to seal their postseason berth.
The Lakers won 108-102 in Overtime against Minnesota Timberwolves to claim the seventh spot in the Western Conference playoffs after their NBA’s play-in tournament Tuesday night.
LeBron James was the star of the show for the Lakers as he had 30 points and 10 rebounds to play a key role in the team’s win.
“It took everything out of us to get to where we are, and it took more out of us tonight,” Davis said. “But we’ve got a couple of days before we go to Memphis to start preparing for them. It’s been a battle. It’s been an up-and-down season for us, but now is the time to show who we are, and we showed it tonight.”
This was the Lakers’ 10th win in the last 12 matches of the season. The team’s head coach Darvin Ham is delighted that his team is peaking at the right time.
“Once you get to the end of things, to have everyone healthy, to be playing in the type of rhythm we’re playing in, to defend at the level that we’re defending at, going into the most important time of the year, you can’t ask for a better situation,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said.
Meanwhile, the Wolves were able to force overtime when Anthony Davis stepped on Mike Conley’s foot.
“That was totally on me,” said Davis, who had 24 points and 15 rebounds. “He faded out of bounds where I was going. But it goes back to next-play mentality, and we got it done in overtime.”
The Lakers will face second-seed Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the postseason, starting Sunday.
