Lakers, sparked by Redick ripping, tie up series

LOS ANGELES -- With the Lakers' once 22-point lead cut in half midway through the third quarter of Tuesday's Game 2 against the Timberwolves, an irate JJ Redick stormed onto the court to call timeout before Luka Doncic could inbound the ball from the sideline.

"What the f--- is going on?!" Redick could be heard shouting on the TNT game broadcast, with his team leading 62-51 with 7:40 to go in the third. "What the f--- are you guys doing? Come on!"

After the huddle, Los Angeles used a 9-0 run to push its lead back to 20 and held on to win 94-85 to even the first-round series 1-1.

"That's JJ," LeBron James said of the first-year coach's outburst. "Obviously we need to listen to the message and not how he's delivering it. ... I thought we responded after that."

The theme of the night was how the Lakers were able to respond, not just from their coach's prodding but also from the 117-95 drubbing they experienced in Saturday's Game 1 when the Timberwolves dominated in nearly every facet of the game.

After being outscored 25-6 in fast-break points in Game 1, Los Angeles led 13-6 in Game 2. After Minnesota set a franchise postseason record by going 21-for-42 on 3-pointers in the opener, the Lakers held the Timberwolves to 5-for-25 on 3s on Tuesday. After the Timberwolves controlled the boards 44-38 in Game 1, the Lakers had the rebounding edge 41-34.

As much as the difference could be shown in statistics, James said it came down to Los Angeles' demeanor.

"We knew yesterday at practice," James said when asked when he knew the Lakers would be ready. "We had a tough practice yesterday, and we went at it yesterday. One of the best practices we've had all year. We kind of knew coming out of that what type of disposition we had to play with."

Doncic scored 31 points and had nine assists after scoring 37 in Game 1 but tying his career postseason low with one assist in the series opener.

"Is nine assists good enough for you?" Doncic jokingly said to ESPN as he stood up from the postgame podium after being asked about how he balanced his scoring and passing following Saturday's loss.

Three other Lakers starters scored in double digits. James had 21 points on 8-for-19 shooting with 11 rebounds and 7 assists, Austin Reaves had 16 points with 5 rebounds and 5 assists, and Rui Hachimura had 11 points with 5 rebounds and 2 steals.

James' steal from Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards and score on the other end with 2:40 to go in the fourth quarter helped finally seal the victory.

"He made a winning play," Doncic said.

Hachimura also made plays on both ends of the floor and was credited by Redick for playing aggressive after getting hit in the face in the first quarter and needing to leave the game to be fit for a face mask.

"He played like a warrior tonight," Redick said of Hachimura. "I'm sure that he is probably in the X-ray room right now. There were a few plays that he made just getting deflections and disrupting plays. ... He was awesome."

But the Lakers as a team looked ugly at times. They scored just 13 points on 5-for-19 shooting (0-for-5 from 3) with six turnovers in the fourth quarter, but never let their lead dip below nine.

Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka glowingly referred to the performance as a "rock fight" as he made his way out of the arena Tuesday.