For all intents and purposes, the Los Angeles Lakers' hopes of winning this year's NBA championship will likely come down to Game 2 of their first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, which takes place on Tuesday. They got slammed in Game 1 on Saturday by a final score of 117-95, and it is possible they got seriously exposed.
But there is another scenario where the Lakers match the Timberwolves' physicality and not only win Game 2 but possibly also expose some type of advantage they can take advantage of moving forward.