Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - LAKERS POSTCAST: Lakers LOSE GAME 3 Swing Game 116-104

Episode Date: April 26, 2025

Jaden McDaniels scored 30 points and Anthony Edwards chipped in with 29 as the Minnesota Timberwolves took game three of their best-of-seven series against the Lakers 116-104. LeBron James led the Lakers in the loss with 38 points and 10 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as the Lakers hope to even the series on Sunday at 12:30 Pacific time.Lakers, LA Lakers, Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Rui, Hachimura Austin Reaves, Dalton Knecht, Dorian Finney-Smith, NBA, Lakers Post cast, JJ Redick, Dave Palet, Lakers vs Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers vs Minnesota Timberwolves Anthony Edwards Support Us, By Supporting Our Sponsors!MONARCH MONEY Ever check your bank account and wonder, where did all my money go? Between dining out, online shopping, and entertainment, it’s easy to lose track. That’s where Monarch Money comes in—your personal CFO, giving you full visibility and control over your finances.Monarch Money isn’t just a budgeting app—it’s a complete financial command center. You can track all your accounts, investments, and spending in one place, so you stop just managing your money and start building wealth.Surprising Insights: When I started using Monarch, I realized just how much I was spending on food delivery—now, I budget smarter and save more.All-in-One Convenience: Instead of juggling multiple apps, you can use Monarch to check your finances, track spending, and even plan long-term goals.Easy Collaboration: Managing money with your partner is smoother than ever—you can track shared and personal accounts, set goals, and stay on the same page without the stress.CTA OFFER: Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. That’s monarchmoney.com, code LOCKEDONNBA, for half off your first year! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You are a locked-on Lakers podcast. Part of Locked-on Sports Los Angeles on the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. For the Lakers, as Luca starts off slow, LeBron takes over the second quarter. Luca gets sick at halftime, but comes through when the Lakers need them most. But it wasn't enough as the Lakers failed to put points up on the board at the end. It was all Minnesota, as Minnesota takes the swing game in game three tonight in Minnesota. final score 116104. They now lead the best of seven series, two games to one.

So again, very frustrating night for the Lakers. It's tough to take this loss. My name is Dave Pallet. I appreciate you joining me tonight. Again, you can follow me on social media right there, of course, where my name is on every single platform. Again, I'm happy to answer any questions you have. That being said, I'd like to get to your comments as well throughout the show.

If you're new to the show, my history is covering this Lakers team as a broadcaster, for years from the early 90s through the mid-2000s, around 2005, 2006, as far as press credential media member. And again, love this Laker team, but not tonight. Tonight, very frustrating to see what happened to this Laker team because it seemed like the opportunities were there. The Lakers, once they got over the hump, gave it right back to Minnesota. And I think it becomes one of those situations where, as a Laker fan, you have to be a little

frustrated to say, who's to blame? and look, their superstars are going to have bad days. We see it all the time, right? Superstars are going to have bad days. And we've talked about this many times that Luca is in a situation where he tries to set the tone. So is everyone going to be talking about? I think there are going to be a few things Laker fans are going to be talking about until the next game, which again is Sunday at 1230 Pacific time.

It's an ABC game. So if you normally watch that game on a local Laker television, that's not where you're going to see it. It's going to be a nationally televised game. But let's get to what people were going to be talking when we talk about game three. This is what you'll be talking about. We've discussed this before. We've discussed this before about Luca and how the Lakers and JJ Redick has

Luca basically take over the first quarter. Well, the problem is when you put all your eggs in one basket with Luca taking over the first quarter and trying to set the tone that way, when he doesn't have it and he doesn't do well, it basically causes a major problem. The Lakers are playing from behind. Well, that's exactly what happened today. I mean, the Lakers, again, you don't think Minnesota knows that, hey, let's focus on stopping

Luca. Luca obviously wasn't well health-wise because he got sick later on. It didn't just start at halftime. Luca obviously wasn't feeling well. There should have been a different plan of attack. This is something JJ Reddick should have fixed. And remember, it was Luca that struggled. He was one of six to start the game in the first quarter.

It only had two points. So the games that we've watched in the past where Luca has 16 points in the first quarter or 14 points in the first quarter to kind of set the tone. When you have a player that's a guy you depend on to go out and do the same thing when it's obviously not working, this is what we talked about before, about getting players on this team involved earlier, guys like the Austin Reeves, the LeBron James, the Ruiz, anyone who starts that game, you get them involved offensively outside of a Jackson

Hayes who basically is there just for live passes. And so for the Lakers, they look around and they go, we're struggling, what are we going to do? and for the Lakers, they were very, very fortunate to only be down by six after the first quarter, 32, 26. When you're star players, only one for six from the field and he only has two points at the end of the quarter. Lakers also had five turnovers in the first quarter. So again, this goes back to the head coach, JJ Reddick.

I can sit there and point the finger at Luca, but I'm not pointing the finger at Luca because he's doing the way this team is set up, and it's set up this way through JJ Redick where this has happened all season long before Luca was even on the team, right? Turnovers always way too high. Miss free throws are obviously ridiculous. And that's what happened. And we talked about this in December and January and February, leading into it, one of the Lakers is going to turn the tables and say, this is what's important. And you've got to cut down on the turnovers. Championship teams, they cut down on the turnovers. Today, turnover's turned into 28 points for Minnesota and going, okay, well, it was only a matter of time. The free throws the other night, the Lakers are perfect. They're outstanding. Okay. So,

So you go, we lost this game 116, 104, and you start looking at what can you have done a little bit different. Well, the team missed, you know, free throws. And he said, well, you know, how many free throws they missed? Well, they missed seven. They turned the ball over to give them basically 28 points. They're outscored in the paint by more than 30 points. And it was there. You basically give for after this game for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Also, there are other things you can point the finger at. Is this the right rotation for JJ Reddick? because when you look at the amount of minutes and understand it's playoff time and you want your guys to play the most minutes, look, Luca being sick, played 40 minutes tonight. Austin Reeves, he played 41. LeBron played 41. We talked about how deep this bench is supposed to be. Well, who did you rely on? Outside of Dorian Finney Smith, who had 29 points,

where were the other guys? Where was the contribution? This Laker team bench-wise tonight, it was bad. Dorian Finney Smith with eight, Jared Vanderbilt with three. All right, that's 11 right there. Gabe Vincent had five. That's 16.

And then Jordan Goodwin had another three. That's all. That's all you had. So you go, well, what else do you have on the bench? I will say it over and over again. When you have a shooter like Dalton Connect, why isn't Dalton Connect in the game, especially when you have other guys who are not knocking down threes? And a lot of guys were not knocking down threes tonight.

It was not a good three-point shooting night for the Lakers. Okay, that basically you had two guys that were nailing threes on a consistent level. That was LeBron and that was Austin Reeves. LeBron was five of nine. Austin Reeves was five of 11. Luca was two of eight. Dalton Connect has been very good from three-point range. This was a game here where when you had the lead,

maybe you could have expanded the lead, and when you're trying to play catch-up, maybe it's a time to stick him in. But when you're sitting there looking at the guys that you have that can knock down three-pointers, gave Vincent off the bench, normally can do it. Gabe Vincent tonight only shot two, three-pointers. He only made one of them.

And so what is this team about? What is the NBA about right now? The NBA is about three-point shots all the time. Now, Minnesota is one of those teams there's not shoot a ton of them. But when I sit there and I look at the best teams in the league, meaning in Oklahoma City and I look at the Boston Celtics, they're all about knocking down three-pointers.

They can do it. And so the Lakers for the first time in what seems like forever, when we said, man, I wish we had a shooter, right? How many times did you wish that you had like a Kyle Corber? Or that you had a J.J. Reddick. That's odd, right? To go, we wish we had a J.J. Reddick on the team to sit there and hopefully help help us out.

So it becomes very frustrating overall that this Laker team lost tonight. Again, we talked about it after game two. The odd games are the big games in every series, right? Game one, the team that has the advantage. Game three, the team that switches a series if you're tied, game five, game seven, okay? It's the odd games that you want to win. When it feels like you're chasing all the time and you aren't set in a tone in the series, it becomes extremely frustrating. And that's basically where this Laker team was tonight. And so very frustrating to see that Lakers not only lose 16104. The fact that couldn't score basically the second half of the fourth quarter was amazing.

Embarrassing and amazing. But the Lakers were in this thing and their game was there. The Lakers got blown out tonight by 50. It would be a lot easier to sit here and not be upset. But the fact that the Lakers were in this and leading and then to sit there and give it away and to be embarrassed and humiliated. And now you have to get ready for game four to hopefully even the series out. Frustrating.

Remember the Lakers were the higher seed when the series began. The Lakers were the team that was supposed to set the tone on the way. way this whole thing went. So again, frustrating the way it worked out. We're going to take some of your comments as well. I appreciate you joining me on a Friday night. But Lakers lose 116104. We'll get to our sponsor real quick. I want to mention the people over up Monarch Money. Look, have you ever checked your bank account and wonder, where did all your money go between dining out, online shopping, and entertainment? It's easy to lose track. That's where Monarch Money comes in. Your personal CFO, giving you full visibility to control your finances.

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like even food delivery. How I was able to budget smarter and save more was very convenient. And it's easy as well to manage your money with your partner. Of course, it is smoother than ever, and you can track shared personal accounts, set goals, and stay on the same page without the stress. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use the code locked on MBA at Monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. That's monarchmoney.com code locked on MBA for half off your first year.

All right. So again, final score tonight, 116, 104, Lakers, Luz. to some of your comments. Again, what are you frustrated by? What do the Lakers have to do different to turn this series around? It's been a tough night. I'm frustrated. I want to know what you think as well. Craig, always good to see you. I was the first one on. Craig, Lakers, you know, they didn't come through in the clutch. Craig also says Reeves and Luca, they have to do a little bit better. You know, again, Reeves has been in the league. He's a veteran. I understand that. But Reeves still doesn't have the cachet that a LeBron has or the Luca has. He has to kind of fall in line. And that's

the way it goes. Daniel says we suck. We don't suck. We just don't play up to, I think, our capabilities, meaning what the Lakers are supposed to do. And I say we, because I know all of you guys feel the same thing I do. It always feels like a we, all right? So it becomes frustrating when you look at the amount of turnovers when you're giving away free points. It becomes frustrating when you're giving up shots in the paint when you're talking about over and over again that the Lakers have given up easy baskets to the Timberwolves. it's a very frustrating night overall. And so when you're sitting in and go,

who are you going to point the finger out? Some of you're going to say, Luca, for me, I say JJ Redick. I think JJ Redick is on a fantastic job and his first year as the head coach of the NBA. At the same time, I expect a little bit more. I expect a little bit more. And I'm not sure what the process is as far as the Lakers go and fixing things for Sunday.

I do expect the Lakers to win on Sunday. I think they're going to make some adjustments, but can the Lakers put back-to-back wins together? in this series. The team that puts back-to-back win together in the series is going to win this series. And that's right. That means if Minnesota wins on Sunday, Minnesota is going to win the series. Lakers have to even this thing up. It's going to go further than we want. We want to hold, obviously, the superstars back in minutes and you want to advance through the playoffs. Right now, you just want to advance with the first round. If you look at this series and let's say the

Lakers lose this series to Minnesota, how do you look back at the season? Is the season fall to a disappointment, or is this season still considered a success? Very, very irritating to see that the Lakers are in this boat right now, that three games in, the Lakers are losing this series, two games to one. So, again, we talked about what happens with Luca, and you can sit there and you can drop excuses. Look, the only thing that matters is the final score. You can sit there and talk about Luca being sick.

You can talk about turnover's points in the paint. It's the final score and adjustments. Can you make adjustments? Look, Anthony Edwards right now is playing like a man on a man. mission. Anthony Edwards is playing for legacy. And it's funny, we see that word a lot lately, especially when you watch the NFL drafting, looking at Shore Sanders, who has legacy all over the place. But whereas that left, uh, Chador, still not even drafted as we do the show today. Well, where does it leave the Lakers right now? We look at the legacy. LeBron has his championships.

He wants the fifth one. Luca needs that first one. The Lakers should be hungry. But right now, when I'm looking at guys on the court, I see Minnesota and they're playing with their hair on fire right now. Jada McDaniels right now is making a name for himself. Julius Randall came out on fire for Minnesota when they needed them most. And if you look at Anthony Edwards, man, when he sees LeBron in front of him, he was doing everything he can to take the crown off the king's head. And so it is frustrating to see where we at, and that is the magic word tonight, right, is frustrating. Lakers again, continue to struggle. Fourth quarter was the most amazing thing to see happen to this team, as we figured the Lakers had a chance. The Lakers, again,

did not play well coming out of the half. Maybe they were caught off guard when Luca wasn't able to basically go 100%. And then when Luca was able to return, he made some big shots. But at the same time, you're concerned like, is Luca going to leave the floor? The Lakers have struggled after the half over and over again. And it's not just here. We've seen it happen many times when they're facing teams that are considered

playoff teams. So again, it's adjustments made and you wonder what are those speeches that are being said by JJ Redick and his staff. But the Lakers played well in the second quarter, and you can thank LeBron James for having 22 points after after two. And he stepped up when Luca wasn't doing well. And LeBron, again, at age 40, has basically been what you want. We need the other guys to sit there and step up as well. So it's not just LeBron.

It's not just Austin Reeves. And it's not, it's not, Rui, it's not anyone else. The stars get things done when this time counts. LeBron was able to step up and get something done tonight. Everyone else didn't. So to figure things out here right at the end, in case you're trying to figure out what happened with the Lakers or you turned in late and you're just trying to get up to date of what happened.

Look, with 220 remaining in the game, the wolves went up by seven. Anthony Edwards lay up a minute, six remaining Anthony Edwards, had a big three to give the wolves a 11-104 lead. It was basically over because the wolves weren't 11-1 run. 11-1 run. Lakers hadn't made a basket up. point in the last four minutes of the game. The wolves again dominated the Lakers in the paint

and through turnovers. And so that's where the frustrating part comes in. Overall, looking at the wolves, you've got to tip your hat. And I hate that when you tip your hat to another team. But Jaden Daniels, you know, with this 30 points and Anthony Edwards with his 29 points and Julius Randall with his 22, that was a ton. But they also had guys that came off the bench for them that scored in double digits as well. And that's something the Lakers didn't have and something the Lakers need to improve on as, again, nobody on the bench scored in double digits. So Lakers frustrating. Again, down 2-1, they'll have a day to think about it before they come back on Sunday,

and we'll figure out exactly what the Lakers do. But I expect the Lakers to win this game on Sunday. I think they make the adjustment. The thing is, can they not only make the adjustment for game four, can they make the adjustment for the rest of the series? All right, let's get to our locked-on player of the game. This is the locked-on player of the game. to give it to somebody on Minnesota. As I said before, I hate giving the lockdown player the game to somebody on another team.

Look, Jada McDaniels is making a name for himself. It's pretty impressive. And Anthony Edwards, everyone knows who he is and really one of the best young stars in the NBA and he'll be around for years and years. But for me, I'm going with the old man. I'm going to LeBron James. LeBron James was the only one that the Lakers could rely on in 41 minutes. He had 38 points. He had 10 rebounds. He had four assists. And LeBron only had one turnover. Usually it's LeBron when the Lakers have Turnovers. It's LeBron is the one that has a ton of them. LeBron didn't. LeBron only had one turnover tonight. So LeBron hit those three, three-pointers, which was exciting as can be. And it looked like he was going to will the Lakers to win, wasn't able to do it. But tonight, LeBron James is my locked-on player of the game.

Look, I'm going to be back with you on Sunday, right after the game. Again, it's a 1230 tip-off. It's a nationally televised game. I hope you guys will join me. I know many of you right now. I had two TVs going as I always get messages that you guys are watching the Dodgers, watching the Lakers as we do this. Unfortunately, the Dodgers lose as well.

Good news is Paul Skeens will be a Dodger in five years. So we have that to look forward to. Lakers lose tonight, 116, 104 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in game three. We will see you on Sunday afternoon. Thank you so much for joining me tonight and throughout the season. Again, we'll be better on Sunday. Guarantee it.