In a battle between the bottom two teams in the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers came out on top with a 106-98 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves at the STAPLES Center Friday night.
Jordan Clarkson, Tarik Black, and Ryan Kelly got the Lakers off to a good start, scoring the first 20 points of the first quarter to open up a double digit lead.
However, towards the end of the first and early second period, that lead evaporated quickly as the Timberwolves bench evened the game at 43 apiece with less than five minutes remaining in the half.
The Lakers headed to the locker room wih a five-point lead, as Clarkson led the way with 11 points.
Los Angeles started the second half the same way they started the game, expanding their lead to 18 thanks to a barrage of threes by Ryan Kelly. He scored nine points in the third and aided the Lakers to a nine-point advantage heading to the fourth quarter.
It was smooth sailing from there on for the Lakers, closing out the Wolves to earn their 21st win of the season.
Ryan Kelly finished with a team-high 21 points to go along with seven assists and four rebounds on 7 of 12 shooting. He displayed excellent three-point shooting, going 5 of 6 from that mark as he looks far more comfortable as a stretch four.
"I'm definitely comfortable [playing the four]," Kelly said after the win. "The ball's running through me a little bit, not just to score but to create plays, dribble hand offs, different things. I think that helps me be a little more effective.
I think the big thing is a lot of the four position you catch the ball facing the basket as opposed to, at the three, kind of moving away from the basket a lot of times," Kelly added.
The backcourt rookie tandem of Jordan Clarkson and Jabari Brown also had a fantastic game. Clarkson put in 18 points, nine assists, six rebounds, and four steals in 40 minutes, as Brown added 20 points and seven assists.
Tarik Black posted a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds on 8 of 9 shooting. He was aggressive right from the start, looking to take advantage of the undermanned and undersized Timberwolves team.
On the other side of the ball, rookie vote-getter Andrew Wiggins flirted with a triple-double, posting 29 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists.
"He's damn good," Coach Byron Scott said about Wiggins in his post-game interview.
"[Wiggins] played actively. He went to the boards a lot and didn't get some rebounds, but considering the amount of minutes he has played averaging almost 40 points here in the last couple weeks, he showed a great amount of energy given the situation," Minnesota's head coach Flip Saunders said about his rising star.
Timberwolves' other rookie, Zach LaVine, also performed well, tacking on 18 points, five rebounds, and four assists on 50 percent shooting. Adreian Payne chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds of his own.
The Lakers dished out 35 assists as a team on 41 buckets, which made Byron Scott extremely happy.
"I liked what I saw. We've been trying to preach this all season long. When you don't have a dominant player, you have to move the ball," Scott said.
The Lakers improved to 21-58 on the season, while dropping the Timberwolves to 16-63. They have three more games remaining and have locked in the fourth worst record in the league.
The Timberwolves will head to the Oracle Arena to play the top-seeded Golden State Warriors on Saturday, April 11th. The Lakers, meanwhile, will welcome the Dallas Mavericks to the STAPLES Center on Sunday, April 12th.