The Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves Tuesday night in a critical Western Conference matchup.
With a win, Los Angeles would overtake the Timberwolves in the standings, moving from fifth to fourth place, allowing them the opportunity to host a first round playoff series.
That said, the matchup proved tough as the Lakers were set to play without LeBron James, Jaxson Hayes and Maxi Kleber.
However, injuries didn’t stop Los Angeles as the duo of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves scored 31 points each.
Reaves’ big night was especially encouraging, given his struggles to begin the month of March.
Although he got off to a slow start Tuesday night, he took over in the second half, scoring 29 of his 31 points after the break.
He also tallied eight assists, seven rebounds with only one turnover.
As for Doncic, he completed the triple-double, adding 11 rebounds and 11 assists to his point total.
With the win, Los Angeles now trails the Houston Rockets by half a game for the third seed.
Following the game, Reaves spoke about Los Angeles’ momentum, stringing wins together as the regular season nears its end.
“We’ve won six out of seven. And it feels like we’re trending in the right direction. We just got to continue to stick to the plan and continue to get better every single day and compete at a high level.”
The Lakers will have Wednesday off before hosting Josh Giddey, Matas Buzelis and the Chicago Bulls Thursday.
