The 2025 Playoffs were supposed to herald a new dominant era for the Lakers. The one led by the superstars LeBron James and Luka Doncic. Instead, it ended in disaster.
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In place of making it to the Championship game by ousting teams ‘in five’, the Lakers got eliminated in five games by the Minnesota Timberwolves. The worst part: They were completely outplayed by Anthony Edwards and Co. on both ends of the floor. Going into the series, the Lakers were a heavy favorite to proceed to the next round.
However, the higher-seeded Lakers did not play like a team that had won 50 games. Everyone, from former players to analysts and fans, is critiquing them. That included Lakers legend Magic Johnson, who pinpointed the exact reasons that led to the downfall.
Other than a home win in Game 2, the Lakers were mediocre throughout the series. On Wednesday night, in the must-win elimination game, they only managed to put forth a decent challenge in the third quarter. Outside of that, their efforts were laughable in the 96-103 loss at home.
While the hype surrounding LeBron’s leadership and Luka’s arrival played out on one side, the Lakers failed to make any real impact, leading to a premature end to what was expected to be a statement postseason. Soon after the game, Johnson took to X to congratulate the Wolves while berating his team.
“Congratulations to my good friend Minnesota Timberwolves owner Alex Rodriguez, superstar Anthony Edwards, and the entire Minnesota Timberwolves team for beating my Lakers and advancing to the next round,” wrote Johnson.
He then listed the three factors that led to the downfall of the Lakers. Magic believes that it was the ‘awful defense’ of the Lakers that cost them this series, along with their size.
“The reason the Lakers lost was because they played awful on defense, they were too small, and the Timberwolves dominated them in the paint,” Magic concluded.
Congratulations to my good friend Minnesota Timberwolves owner Alex Rodriguez, superstar Anthony Edwards and the entire Minnesota Timberwolves team for beating my Lakers and advancing to the next round. The reason the Lakers lost was because they played awful on defense, they…
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 1, 2025
A mere 22 points from LeBron, 28 from Luka, 23 from Rui Hachimura, and 12 from Austin Reaves just weren’t enough to push the series to Game 6. The Wolves, on the other hand, played a brilliant overall game.
Rudy Gobert was the star of the night with a playoff career-high performance. He scored 27 points, shooting 12 of 15 from the field, and had 24 rebounds.
Other than being terrible at defense, the Lakers had no interior presence and were physically outmatched by the Wolves. The Lakers need to get rid of the mentality that they can compete with offensive brilliance alone since they have Luka and LeBron at the helm.
The team has a lot of changes to make in the upcoming offseason. They must prioritize defensive size and add more depth to their roster. At the same time, if they want to make Luka the centerpiece of the team, they need to build the roster around him. That starts with getting him a lob-threat big, just like the pair he had in Dallas.
The ball is now back in Rob Pelinka’s court. We’ll have to see what the first set of moves he comes up with following an extension with the franchise.
