SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
From one injury setback to another, superstar LeBron James excelled once again in leading the Los Angeles Lakers over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves, 108-102, Tuesday night in overtime.
The Lakers trialed throughout the first half, were down 60-49 at halftime, but behind the exploits of James, caught and passed the short-handed Timberwolves to gain the No. 8 spot and a first-round date with second-seeded Memphis in the first round that begins Sunday.
Meanwhile the Wolves will host either New Orleans or Oklahoma City on Friday for the eighth spot. The Denver Nuggets are the top seed in the West, and it will play the Minnesota-New Orleans-Oklahoma City winner.
As for LeBron, he tossed in 30 points and took down 10 boards. He also played a big part in the LA defense that was became too much for Minny to handle with its Rudy Gobert suspended and Jaden McDaniel’s injured.
The D of the Lakers held the Timberwolves to seven points over the last 11 minutes. That came as Los Angeles rallied from a 15-point deficit. Also playing a huge part was Anthony Davis coming up with 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers.
For Minnesota, Gobert, its post player, was suspended for punching teammate Kyle Anderson during a game against New Orleans, and McDaniel is out indefinitely with a broken hand after punching a wall in frustration Sunday.
It was tied with 1.4 seconds in regulation following a 3-pointer by Dennis Schoder of LA, but the Wolves forced OT when Mike Conley converted three free throws with 0.1 left after Davis stepped on Conley’s foot after he released a 3-point attempt.
Then came the grueling extra time led by Schoder sealing the win with a pair of charity stripe conversions with 8.4 remaining. He totaled 21 points overall.
Conley led Minny with 23 points and he dished out eight assists, but it just wasn’t enough as personal fouls kept his team contained in back-to-back situations.
