Timberwolves can't keep up, get drubbed by Lakers 137-121

LOS ANGELES – The last time the Timberwolves visited Staples Center, it was for a pair of games against the Lakers and Clippers. Both games were over before halftime.

The team that took the floor in Los Angeles on Tuesday night barely resembled that squad. First off, Karl-Anthony Towns was back on the floor, D'Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley were not. Chris Finch was patrolling the sidelines instead of Ryan Saunders.

The Wolves were more competitive in a 137-121 loss to the Lakers on Tuesday, but a familiar problem that was around then was still present on the floor: Transition defense.

The Lakers finished with 15 fast-break points, but that didn't account for the amount of easy baskets the Lakers got because they quickly pushed the ball down the floor after both makes and misses, often confusing the Wolves. The Wolves hadn't trailed by double digits until the fourth when the Lakers ran away with it in more ways than one.

It starts and ends with LeBron James, who had 25 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists as he took over in the second half.

"We kind of knew it was coming at halftime," Finch said. "He was kind of pacing himself in the first half, you could see. That's why he's a great player. He can do that at any moment in time, step up and really take over a game."

There was one time James hit teammates over the top on consecutive possessions for easy layups, which was indicative of how the Lakers ran on the Wolves at various times.

"A team like the Lakers, they like to throw them touchdown passes," Wolves guard Anthony Edwards said. "[James] had a couple of them. It's on us. We just got to get back. The majority of the time when we're watching film, the person who shoots the ball is the person who gets back for us, which is bad, which is terrible."

Both Towns and Edwards finished with 29 for the Wolves. Ricky Rubio added 19 points and 12 assists.

BOXSCORE: L.A. Lakers 137, Wolves 121

For three quarters, the Wolves were right there with the Lakers, who were playing without the injured Anthony Davis. But Finch said the offense broke down after the Wolves grabbed their biggest lead of the night, 78-71, early in the third. Specifically, the Wolves were too stagnant and not driving the ball enough for Finch's liking.

"I think we took a bunch of half-baked shots," Finch said. "I didn't really like the shots that we took. We didn't have to take them, and that allowed them to come back and make a couple buckets to tighten the game up again."

That, plus the Wolves missing layups killed their momentum, because often the Lakers converted those into points.

"If you miss a layup in the NBA right now, it's a turnover and it's run right back on you," Finch said.

Montrezl Harrell also pitched in 25 points off the bench for Los Angeles as his pick-and-roll game with James tortured the Wolves down the stretch.

The defending champion Lakers, who were playing the second of back-to-back games, enforced their will on the Wolves as the game wore on in the fourth quarter. As Edwards said, it was a learning experience for a young team.

"I watch LeBron," Edwards said. "Everybody on their team just knows that this is what he do. They just play their role. That's why they so good. Whatever LeBron say, they listen to it. If they got something they think is gonna work, they listen to it.

"It's fun watching it because it's a dream team. You do this, you do this, you be great at this and we're going to win the championship. That's basically how they play out there."

The Wolves played better than they did here a few months ago, but even as they started the second half with two wins in their first three games after the All-Star break, the Lakers had a way of making that progress feel stunted.

"I think we had a really good three games on the defensive end," Rubio said. "But [Tuesday] we took a step back."