Lakers-Wolves Game 5 Observations

An exhausting series, and Luka’s season ends

Photo by MediaNews Group / Getty Images

The Los Angeles Lakers and Luka Dončić’s season is over after a disappointing Game 5 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, sealing a 4–1 series defeat.

The series and its outcome were the complete opposite of last year’s Western Conference Finals between Dončić’s Mavericks and the Timberwolves. In that matchup, the Mavericks won not just because Dončić and Kyrie Irving were excellent, but because they were the bigger, more physically dominant team. This time, the Wolves held a huge edge in size and physicality, and the Lakers simply couldn’t keep up. Game 4 felt like a Game 7 in terms of desperation, minutes, fatigue, and energy. Last night was just a prolonged struggle by an exhausted team.

The season wasn’t just draining for the Lakers, Dončić, and Mavericks fans—it took a toll on yours truly as well. From the seismic trade and all the changes that followed, to zig-zagging with content, deep-diving, and covering an entirely new team, it’s been a whirlwind.

The way the season ended exposed flaws in both the Lakers and Mavericks rosters. But before diving into all of that, I’m taking a couple of days to just enjoy these otherwise fun playoffs without any emotional attachment and to think about how best to cover what’s shaping up to be an incredibly important and intriguing offseason for Dončić, the Lakers, and the Mavericks.

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Today’s notes:

1. Lakers exhausted of fight and fire

2. J.J. Redick exhausted of ideas

3. Exhausted Luka

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1-Lakers exhausted of fight and fire

Under normal circumstances, this was a game the Lakers should have won easily. The Wolves shot just 7-of-47 from three (!), Anthony Edwards scored only 15 points on 5-of-19 shooting, and he missed all 11 of his three-point attempts.

"But this wasn’t a game under normal circumstances. Lakers looked like a wounded, beaten team from the opening tip—a team that had spent the entire series trying to hold back the flood by banging with a bigger, more physically overwhelming opponent. Last night, the dam finally broke. Rudy Gobert looked like George Mikan in a Minneapolis Lakers jersey, going up against opponents five inches shorter. He grabbed 24 rebounds, scored 27 points, and dominated the paint with a flurry of putback dunks, towering over a worn-down Lakers front line.

The pause, the reflection, the brutal honesty, and the sadness in Rui Hachimura’s voice as he described his struggle battling the much bigger Gobert—and the rest of the Wolves—was the clearest illustration of both the physical and mental fatigue the Lakers were carrying by the end of this series.

We didn't get a rebound. We need somebody to get rebounds….I can't just be face to face boxing out Gobert the whole game, I can't get a rebound, he's 7'2" with a 7'5" wingspan, whatever. He's a big man.-Rui Hachimura, after Game 5

2-J.J. Redick exhausted of ideas

After Game 4, I wrote that Redick treated it like a Game 7. He played his ultimate card by sticking with the only lineup and the only five players he truly trusted for the entire second half. The gamble didn’t pay off, as the tired Lakers fell apart down the stretch.

I don’t know if Redick was as mentally exhausted as some of his players, but after that lose he did speak about how everyone was and should be on edge. He stormed out of the pregame media session when a reporter questioned his decision-making process from Game 4.

I’m a huge fan of Redick. I think he’s a brilliant mind and did a great job in his first year as a coach. But in this series, it looked like he ran out ideas. That move in Game 4 felt like his final bullet.

Redick did make some adjustments in this game, starting Dorian Finney-Smith and removing Jaxson Hayes from the rotation. Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent both saw extended minutes. He even went with a desperate move, turning to Maxi Kleber—who hadn’t stepped on an NBA floor since January 25 and underwent surgery to repair a broken right foot later that month.

In the end, it didn’t matter. Redick, Dončić, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves couldn’t figure out how to score at anything close to the level needed to punish the Wolves’ bigs with their spread-it-out, small-ball lineup. And they didn’t have the ideas, or more accurately the talent, to play any other way.

3 – Exhausted Luka

Photo by MediaNews Group / Getty Images

This wasn’t the Dončić season or the playoff series we expected.

Being critical or disappointed in a player who averaged 30/7/6 in a playoff series might sound harsh or even hypocritical. But that alone speaks volumes about how talented this guy is.

A true evaluation of Dončić isn’t just about points or stats. It’s about impact.

At his best, he dominates his opponent, dictates terms, and forces adjustments. In this series, despite some great scoring outbursts, that wasn’t the case. And there’s no getting around the fact that, defensively, he had a rough series, just like the rest of his Lakers team, aside from that impressive performance in Game 2.

There are several reasons, many of them valid, why Dončić didn’t look like the top-three player he has been in most of his previous playoff runs. This Lakers roster lacked athleticism and wasn’t built to complement Dončić’s skills on either end of the floor. Questions about his physical condition will continue to follow him in the offseason.

Then there is the trade. The Nico Harrison trade. Ever since that move, Dončić never looked like someone who fully processed the change.

Mentally, I’m kind of exhausted from everything that happened. I know a lot of people won’t believe me, but I am. So now it’s time to process everything." —Luka Dončić after Game 5

It felt like the trade became a mental hurdle, a form of fatigue that kept him from being the version of Luka we know. Luka that plays carefree, off raw joy and emotion on the court, even in the biggest moments.

Now, there will be plenty of time for Dončić to reflect and finally close that chapter. The same goes for the Lakers. And for the Mavericks. And for us here, as we follow whatever happens next. I hope you’ll keep riding along with me and continue supporting this journey.