Minnesota knew what was coming after pushing the Lakers around in Game 1 of this series.
“We knew they would come with high intensity, with energy. We knew it was going to be physical,” Julius Randle said.
Knowing it and dealing well with it are two different things.
“We were stagnant, missed open looks, missed layups,” Randle added.
The Lakers flipped the script in Game 2, going from the team getting pushed around to the aggressors, the more physical team on defense.
The result was the Lakers racing out to a 17-point first-quarter lead — again behind a hot start from Luka Doncic, who had 16 points of his 31 points in the first quarter — and this time holding on for the 94-85 win that evens the series 1-1.