The Los Angeles Lakers of LeBron James and Luka Doncic were eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs after their home defeat on Wednesday, April 30, against the Minnesota Timberwolves of a huge Rudy Gobert, author of a double-double (27 points, 24 rebounds). At 32, the Frenchman delivered his reference match for his 9e Playoffs campaign, the third with Minnesota after nine seasons at Utah Jazz. “He made all players understand that it was Rudy’s night and that no one could stop him”commented his coach Chris Finch after the meeting.
Winners 103 to 96, the Timberwolves won the 4-1 series and will either challenge the Golden State Warriors (Baie de San Francisco), or the Houston Rockets in the semi-finals of the West conference.
After having aroused the hope of their fans thanks to their 3e Place de la Conference West in the regular season of the Big North American Basketball League, the Lakers disappointed in playoffs with an early outing and without relief, losing two of their three games disputed at home. For his first season at the head of the team, coach JJ Redick could not do better than his predecessor Darvin Ham, released at the same stadium last year.
“There is always a mixture of disappointment and recognition, reacted the coach after the match. I am obviously disappointed, because this result is not something that I had considered with this team and having to go talk to them after being eliminated in the first round … But you have to give a lot of merit to Minnesota. It’s a very good basketball team, and I think our guys played quite hard and did what was needed. »»
Lack of depth
The Lakers seemed to pay the lack of depth of their workforce, turned upside down in February with the arrival of Slovenian Luka Doncic, in exchange in particular of the interior Anthony Davis. Dononic was still important (28 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists), but the Californian franchise collective was particularly feverish on Wednesday.
As for LeBron James (22 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists), he finished his 22 at 40e NBA season. In the summer of 2024, he had signed a new two -year contract, estimated at $ 100 million, with Lakers, with the second year remaining at his discretion. But the superstar, released a few minutes after contact during 4e A quarter, has never suggested that he could stop in 2025.