The Los Angeles Lakers tied their Western Conference first round playoff series with the Minnesota Timberwolves 1-1 on Tuesday night thanks to a 94-85 victory at Crypto.com Arena.
Los Angeles guard Luka Doncic made Lakers history in the win, dropping 31 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists to become the third player in franchise history to score at least 30 points in his first three NBA playoff games.
There was extra focus on Doncic, who scored 37 points in Game 1, from before the opening tip.
That attitude seemed to carry over into the game as well, leading to a controversial play by Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels.
In the midst of a fourth-quarter run by the Timberwolves, McDaniels caught the Slovenian with a “dirty” move in a rare moment when the officials were not looking. The Minnesota forward fell to the ground after making a basket defended by Doncic.
As Doncic stepped over him, he made a motion fans believed to be an intentional trip on the Lakers star. That was a dirty move by McDaniels. He intentionally tripped Luka, no wonder Luka was pissed after no call.
pic.twitter.com/3DZEh1lfzJ — Matej Sportinfo (@MatejSportinfo) April 23, 2025 “@NBA are you seeing this?!” replied an X user. “Fine that man rn.” “@NBA come on really?” said another. “That was so obvious. Dirty player.” “I was so disgusted when I saw the replay,” said one fan.
“McDaniels is a massive weirdo for that.” The fact that Mcdaniels tried to injure Luka TWICE is beyond frustrating I’m fuming pic.twitter.com/uDnNuSr8NK — A Y A (@LD7AYA8) April 23, 2025 ”
All these bums like him and Dort get told all year that they’re the best perimeter defender in the league only to get torched by Luka come playoff time so they get pissy and start flopping and mauling him,” ranted one user.
No foul was called on the play despite Doncic getting plenty of attention from the officials throughout the game.
He went 11-for-11 from the free throw line, accounting for more than half of the Lakers’ 20 free throw attempts.
Whether it is jawing between Doncic and Anthony Edwards or a newfound disdain for McDaniels, there will be plenty of intrigue to keep an eye on when the series shifts to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday night.
