All things considered, the Game 2 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers was far from the worst outcome possible for the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers' ramped-up defense caused havoc, and led to the Wolves' lowest-scoring game of the entire season.
Still, Minnesota held LA to 95 points or less for the second game in a row. Their defensive execution remained sharp, and although it may have felt like one of the worst games of the Timberwolves' 2024-25 campaign, they still had a chance to emerge with the victory in the end.
All this should provide some encouragement to Wolves fans as Game 3 approaches. And as we look back on the Lakers' increased defensive effort from Tuesday, there is reason to believe some of it may be unsustainable in the long run.
What I'm referring to specifically is the way JJ Redick decided to have his team defend Anthony Edwards. The Timberwolves' superstar mentioned after the contest that he noticed he was being given a lot of attention defensively in one specific way.
"It seemed like every time I caught the ball they went in a zone," Edwards said. "It was kind of confusing at times." What the Lakers were doing was setting up a "boxes and elbows" zone defense against Ant, which coach Michael Jagacki explains below (@Mike_Jagacki on X).
Minnesota did find some success late. I specifically like the boomerang idea to attack the movement and recovery. Paired with the second clip of an early touch and a quick swing vs the load up. Puts MIN in a good position to quickly play back to Ant or opposite pic.twitter.com/8oKl5DUlfo
— Michael Jagacki (@Mike_Jagacki) April 23, 2025
Anthony Edwards began to figure out the Lakers' zone
Upon Edwards catching the ball or matching up with his singular defender at the top of the key, the Lakers would proceed to load up and create a four-man box behind the on-ball matchup. These defenders moved into position regardless of the other offensive players on the floor for Minnesota.
At first, it certainly frustrated Edwards, as he explained. But as the contest went on, he began to figure some things out in terms of how to attack the zone, albeit a bit too late. Toward the end of the third quarter, we saw Ant begin to make a quick jab step or take a couple of dribbles to essentially test the defense before giving the ball up.
In one of these scenarios, he received the ball back after giving it up and immediately attacks Luka Doncic, blowing by him for an easy score. The most interesting part of the Lakers using this method to defend Edwards is the fact that it's actually the same tactic the Dallas Mavericks employed against Ant last year in the Western Conference Finals.
As such, Edwards is a bit more aware of what he's up against and, as we saw, was able to begin to find some answers to the problem already. Maybe he hasn't completely picked apart this zone yet, but JJ Redick will want to be wary of over-utilizing it against Minnesota next time out. Spamming it too much might result in Edwards finding an even better groove offensively.