Five takeaways from Wolves' season-opening loss to Lakers

There were some evident offensive and defensive struggles on the first night of the season.

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James dribbles against Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) during the first quarter at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Oct. 22, 2024. / Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images

The Timberwolves kicked off their new era Tuesday night, and as expected, the new-look lineup had its fair share of hiccups in a 110-103 season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. 

There were offensive lapses early, defensive issues throughout and while they began to resolve some of their early problems in the second half, ultimately, the Timberwolves came up short in the season opener. 

All in all, Tuesday night was just one game. The Wolves certainly have things to work on, and they provided reason to believe they’ll figure it out. Here are five things that stood out from the opener:

Disjointed offense

During the preseason, it looked like the Timberwolves could be in line to make significant strides offensively. The Wolves were middle of the pack in offensive rating last season, coming in at 15th in the 30-team league, but the smooth-flowing offense of the preseason indicated that Minnesota could perhaps tout a top-10 offensive unit this season.

That likely could still be the case, but six first-quarter turnovers tanked any early offensive rhythm Tuesday night. No matter the lineup, the Wolves were disjointed for much of the night and never truly found their offensive flow.

“Really disconnected, like all the flow, rhythm, good will that we built up offensively through the preseason, we just didn’t have it,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch told reporters postgame. “And then when we were able to get some open looks, they didn’t go in for the large part there, but we didn’t generate enough good ones for us to be able to catch any rhythm.” 

Finch said he felt the ball movement got sticky, leading to a lot of the early turnovers. He attributed the many of the early turnovers to “trying to do everything one on five.” Julius Randle said the Wolves were stagnant early on, which was evident. It was not the free-flowing offense Finch wants to see, with a lack of ball movement stalling their rhythm.

They also missed shots. The Wolves shot just 41% from the field and 32% from 3-point range. They didn’t generate many easy points — just seven fast-break points — and they missed a number of wide-open 3s throughout the night. 

“We got great looks,” Anthony Edwards said. “If we made those shots, we win, so I mean, it’s just that simple to me. Basketball is that simple. We make the open shots that we missed, if I make the open shots that I missed, we win the game. It’s just that simple.” 

It was a struggle Tuesday, but it was the first game, and the issues are all fixable.

Outwilled on the glass early

The Timberwolves ultimately won the battle on the boards, outrebounding the Lakers 47-46 Tuesday night.

But they were crushed on the glass early, a prevalent problem early on. 

The Lakers had 15 offensive rebounds, many of which came during the first half, and that allowed Los Angeles to pour in early second-chance points. The Lakers were more motivated on the glass, particularly early in the game, and between the lack of rebounding effort and the turnovers, the Wolves dug themselves into a hole that was largely self-inflicted.

“I feel like if we just cleaned up the rebounding (Tuesday), we could’ve won the game,” Randle said. “For me, I take that personal. I pride myself on being able to rebound the ball, so it’s the little things that we got to clean up, and everything else will fall into place.” 

Defensive lapses

In addition to the issues on the defensive glass, the Wolves were outmuscled and outwilled in the lane for much of the night. The Lakers outscored the Wolves 72-40 in the paint. Those lapses were most noticeable during a 17-2 Lakers second-quarter run in which they took control of the game. That started when Rudy Gobert was off the floor, and Los Angeles scored at will inside, taking advantage of a zone defense the Wolves briefly ran in the frame. 

"I think there was a lot going on in the gameplan (Tuesday), maybe too much at times," Finch said. "We might have to simplify some things early here. But I didn't see a lot of resistance like we normally — even when we had opportunities to contain, we didn't do a good job of that early on."

Finch also lamented the early offensive rebounds given up. Randle acknowledge getting beat on backdoor cuts on a few occasions during the game and said he needs to be better. From top to bottom, the Wolves didn't play the same brand of defense observers have grown accustomed to seeing over the past few seasons, with many uncharacteristic lapses.

Debuts of Randle, DiVincenzo

Randle played his first regular-season NBA game in quite some time after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery towards the end of last season. As expected, there was some noticeable rust from the two-time All-NBA selection.

There were defensive lapses, early turnovers and some offensive struggles. In the end, the numbers weren't terrible as Randle finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two turnovers, but there were evident struggles, too.

“I really didn’t come in with any expectation, other than to win," Randle said. "I didn’t think it was going to be pretty or perfect or whatever it is, like I said, it’s the first game. I just came in expecting to win, and we didn’t get the job done and we got a lot to clean up and a lot of potential, room to grow.” 

Randle said he feels great physically and noted the factors of the long layoff, new team and new environment, through he explicitly said none of those factors are an excuse. His focus is on continuing to improve and clean up the miscues.

After looking like he couldn't miss a shot during the preseason, DiVincenzo struggled with his shot Tuesday night and didn't find a rhythm early on. He picked things up in the second half and demonstrated his playmaking ability shown throughout the preseason. Ultimately, He finished with 10 points on 3-for-11 shooting, three assists and a pair of steals.

Ingles in rotation

One of the interesting storylines leading into the season was what Finch would do with the rotation with one of the deepest teams in the league. While the top eight were accounted for, there were several players in the preseason making their case for a potential ninth spot in the rotation, which went to Joe Ingles in the season opener Tuesday night.

The veteran played only seven minutes and finished with a plus-minus of plus-one. He atttempted just one shot — a missed 3-pointer — and recorded an assist. As expected during his minutes, he ran a couple pick-and-rolls with Gobert, who Ingles was teammates with in Utah. It was just the first game, and it still wouldn't be surprising to see Josh Minott get some run, too, but it appears for now that Ingles will be who Finch turns to when he opens up the ninth spot in the rotation.