Once again, the Los Angeles Lakers went into a game with a seriously depleted active roster when they visited the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday. They were without LeBron James, Luka Dončić, Gabe Vincent, Marcus Smart, Maxi Kleber and Adou Thiero, and they were coming off a 122-108 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.

They came out intense and aggressive on Wednesday and overcame an early nine-point deficit to take a 62-58 lead at halftime, then built a 95-75 lead with 1:45 left in the third quarter. It looked like their hot shooting and balanced offensive production would allow them to cruise to their third victory in five games this season.

But Minnesota made a furious rally in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter as the Lakers started to inexplicably walk the basketball upcourt and milk the shot clock, which artificially put the brakes on their own offense. Minnesota took a 115-114 lead with 10.2 seconds left on a bucket by Julius Randle, and it looked like L.A. was on its way to an embarrassing defeat.

But Austin Reaves hit a runner in the lane at the buzzer to save the day. As a result, Los Angeles got itself a 116-115 victory, giving it a 3-2 record.

Overall, the team shot 54.2% from the field and had five players score at least 15 points, but it won this game with hustle. It was a plus-six in rebounding, and it scored 26 points off 19 Timberwolves turnovers while establishing a 60-44 edge in points in the paint. The Lakers even had a 14-6 edge in second-chance points, a category it has struggled in for the last few years.

Jarred Vanderbilt: B-plus/A-minus

Vanderbilt is proving that he can be an asset to the Lakers while barely contributing in the scoring column.

He had seven rebounds in the first quarter alone and ended the game with a dozen boards in 26 minutes. He also contributed four assists and one steal, and he played his usual active and aggressive defense.

Jake LaRavia: A-plus

The Lakers badly needed a couple of unheralded players to step up offensively with so many key players out of action, and LaRavia was one who more than pulled his own weight on Wednesday.

He made all but one of his 11 shot attempts and all but one of his six 3-point tries, giving him an extremely efficient 27 points in 37 minutes. He also grabbed eight rebounds and added two assists, one steal and one block. He was very aggressive overall and did a good job of not being overly reliant on the 3-ball to help his team offensively.

Rui Hachimura: B-plus

Once again, Hachimura got himself to the level of offensive production that is needed from him with both of the Lakers’ superstars unable to play.

He made half of his 14 shot attempts to score 17 points while also chipping in five rebounds and four assists. This is now the fourth game in a row that he has scored at least 16 points and shot at least 50% from the field after having nine points in last Tuesday’s regular-season opener.

Deandre Ayton: B-plus

Ayton worked his mid-range game very well again and shot 8-of-11 from the field to score 17 points while gobbling up 10 rebounds and adding three assists in 35 minutes. While he blocked only one shot, that stat was somewhat misleading, as he altered multiple shots at or near the rim.

Austin Reaves: B-plus

Reaves missed each of his first three shot attempts and five of his first six. Early on, he was distributing the ball to the tune of five first-quarter assists, and once his shooting came around later in the second quarter, he ended the first half with 18 points on 5-of-11 field-goal shooting and nine assists.

He struggled with his shooting all throughout the second half, but the threat of him as a scorer allowed the Lakers to live well enough offensively. With his shot not falling, Reaves looked to impact the game with his passing, which resulted in him getting 16 assists against three turnovers. Those 16 assists tied a career high he set last season against the Sacramento Kings.

His game-winning runner in the lane reinforced the fact that the Lakers can rely on Reaves in pressure situations to make plays offensively.

While he shot 9-of-24 from the field and 3-of-11 from 3-point range, he did manage to score a team-high 28 points, and he also added two steals in his spare time.

Dalton Knecht: B-plus

Knecht gave the Lakers some much-needed offense early with seven points in the first quarter on some hot shooting. He cooled off afterward, but he finished 7-of-12 from the field, and while he made just one of his five attempts from beyond the arc, he scored 15 points and had easily his best overall game since late last season.

Nick Smith Jr.: C-plus

Smith gave the Lakers 10 adequate minutes, and while he was 2-of-6 from the field, he scored seven points, with all of them coming late in the third quarter, which allowed L.A. to maintain its big lead.

Jaxson Hayes: C

In his first game back since last Tuesday, Hayes played 13 minutes and scored two points to go along with two rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.

Bronny James: Incomplete

In five minutes of playing time, the younger James made no contribution to the stat sheet.