[Applause] welcome to Minneapolis a beautiful sunrise on a beautiful spring day playoff basketball returns to the Twin Cities Target Centers packed first home game of the 2025 postseason for the Timberwolves and their rabbit fans following two games in Los Angeles ruy Hachimura knocks down the first shot of the game lebron James rises up knocks down his first shot has shot only 43% the first two games himaura guarding Connley hima has been quite the versatile defender couldn't stop Connley there offhand floater hima posting up down the other end takes advantage of Mike Connley mcdaniels fakes the three drives goes right at Jackson Hayes and puts it in what a difficult shot for McDaniels randall drives on Hayes gets inside bang shot is good good aggressive forceful move from Julius Randall randle whips a pass mcdaniels a much improved offensive player gets to the rim mcdaniels drives on Dotic pulls up jumper's good off the glass edwards short hachimo the rebound quick outlet here comes James in the open floor one man to beat it's Randall lays it up and in still with that burst of speed donic pulls up corner jumper is good the high arcer luca Donuch in this series 37 points game one 31 points nine assists in game two nichz kicks it out reeves good open look for three that's good vinnie Smith cuts go right there lurking vinnie Smith blocked by Goar edwards with the slam the Lakers thought it was a goend down the other end james comes back naz Reed in the game james one dribble jump shot is good lebron James knocks down a couple he's now three for three overall steven Chenzo the handoff gabe Vincent's come out for the Lakers steven Chenzo from way downtown finny Smith tries to answer and does nice moveenzo nice pass finish won't happen naz Reed gets the offensive rebound and there's a finish edwards double team inside good position banks it home timeout Lakers little zone defense looks like here from Minnesota reeves fires away and takes care of the zone that way there's Reeves gets past Rando nice feet inside and Vanderville throws it down james back in alexander Walker catches fires and hits they're now three for seven from three-point range drive dodess goes inside shot won't go the follow is good finny Smith good hustle play 6/10 of a second remaining mcdaniels now guarding James gets away kindly on a mismatch and James takes advantage can't get it to fall but the follow banks it home lebron James eight points here in the first half james drives powers down lays it up and in with Goar lurking right behind him lakers lead all teams in playoffs wearing masks reeves fires away his three-pointer that's good rattles it in reeves his third three-pointer this time James comes off randall chasing him james finds the elbow jump shots good rattles it in he's six of eight from the field edwards banks it home using his strength there doris Randle backs in using his strength gets inside back shot way too strong but Edwards shot blocked by James picked up by Goodwin here comes LeBron the other way pulls up three-pointer puts it in lebron James 16 points already and the Lakers back up by two nice pass anthony Edwards was four years old when LeBron played his very first playoff game inside mcdaniels blocked hachimura and Vanderbilt both right there four turnovers for Minnesota lakers with eight they had six of them in the first james knocks down the three his second three-pointer he's got 20 points already in just 15 minutes mcdaniels drives in nice left-handed soft touch that's just too easy gotic looking for an opening mcdaniels plays him well but Dodgers nice fake and knocks down his second field goal five-point Laker lead randle draws the foul count it one mcdaniels drives and slams a flying McDaniels and it's back to a one-point game reeves smooth looking jumper he's in double figures and that was a big shot by Reeves reeves can't get it james on the follow and the foul randle against Reeves there's the double finds Edwards that's a typical pass edwards rattles home the three his second three-pointer he's got 12 haynes backs in up top to Reeves reeves long three-pointer got it reeves from way downtown his fourth three-pointer about a three and a half second difference shot clock and game clock good defense from Edwards donic has to take a contested three and knocks it down luca Dodic's first three-pointer he was 0 for four edwards pulls back sometimes he makes look scoring so easy effortless mcdaniels been quite involved pulls up shot is good 16 for McDaniels a sets a screen gets it back goes up and under bank shots good edwards trying to draw a foul gets it to McDaniels mcdaniels off the bounce and banks it home his ball handling is really improved off the dribble dis throws it up and broken up nicely by Gobear connley fakes the pass now kicks it out edwards wide open chance to set and nails the three his fourth three-pointer four of seven from downtown he's got 18 randle wide open hits a three his first three-pointer he's got 17 total randle on the drive met by Hayes knocked away he thought he got hit here comes Duch ahead to Reeves ali up to James beautiful setup off the turnover connley lines that one up that's good mike Conley just his second field goal reeves nice fake there and nails the three-pointer reeves five of 10 from three edwards gets in the paint layup strong and good got using his size and strength against Connelly and nice soft touch reeves drives gets inside his layup is good it's knocked down reeves having an excellent game 19 points mcdaniels blocked by Hachimura mcdaniels gets it back donuch wrestles it away but not before a hell ball corner three mcdaniels in and out donic the rebound stolen by Edwards drives inside and the slam oh what a finish from Anthony Edwards donic Hachimura he attempts the three that rattles in hachimura has only taken four shots but he's hit three of them oh knocked away picked up by McDaniels layup counted out a foul rod Rudy Goar gets a little revenge gabe Vincent gets a clean look and hits a three randle step back well short just grazes at the bottom of the rim poked away alexander Walker the steal randall has it layup is good and the foul james rifles a pass inside vanderbilt right back out finny Smith open in the corner three-pointer is good denny Smith with his first three make that his second three-pointer donic forces up the shot and hits it luca Donic with Randall draped over him going for a two for one there all right Lisa Kay Vincent goes coast to coast lays it up and in and the Lakers tie the game as we begin this fourth quarter connley cuts off the ball beautiful look there from Randall his fourth assist steven Enenzo pulls back fires up a three got it dante Devanchenzo big plays here in game three and it's a five-point lead blocked by Devincenzo connley gets the offensive rebound brings it back out looks his three-pointer banks it in mike Connley with a smile james has had his best game of the series thus far finds Goodwin baseline jumper is good how about Jordan Goodwin here in the fourth quarter of game three randall drives on Hachimura double falling away difficult shot bounces around and drops through 22 for Randall hashimmore dribbles it off his foot picked up by McDaniels mcdaniels drives inside donic just stopped he thought he heard a whistle that's what he's looking at the officials he thought he heard a whistle after the play five of 24 james rises up three-pointer's good his third three-pointer he's got 32 connley kicks it out reed left wide open connects on a three james gets another look for three backto back threes for LeBron James lakers down four halfway through the fourth james a three puts it in lebron James does it again it's a one-point game james fell out of his hands picked up by McDaniels mcdaniels down the lane inside layup's good and the foul what a turn of events nach fakes goes right at Goar flips it up and in the game is tied with four and a half to play edwards nine to shoot donic leaning towards him edwards steps back three-pointer puts it in anthony Edwards drills the huge three edwards gets away from the double team finds Reed nas Reed a three-pointer bang nas Reed from downtown a six-point lead for Minnesota edwards drives gets inside layup banks it home anthony Edwards in the clutch hachimo off the bounce goes inside and a foul called on Edwards he wants a challenge on it there is no foul on the play therefore it'll be Minnesota ball out of bounds at 24 and 24 second clock back into the hands of Edwards double team edwards dribbles out of trouble shot clock at four goes inside sideep layups blocked from behind by James edwards against Finny Smith step back jump shot got it anthony Edwards another clutch shot largest lead of the game timeout Lakers mcdaniels three-pointer puts it in as James heads to the locker room with 7.7 remaining a dominant 4 and 1/2 minutes for Minnesota doing it at both ends of the floor