Once again, blowing up in the first round of the playoffs<\/a> for the third time in five years, the Lakers just weren\u2019t good enough.<\/p>\n Lakers forward LeBron James looks frustrated while watching Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert dunk the ball during Game 5 of their NBA playoff series Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena.<\/p>\n (Robert Gauthier\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n But it\u2019s rarely felt this bad.<\/p>\n Rarely has Crypto.com Arena been as quiet during a playoff game as it was Wednesday in the final minute of a 103-96 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a>.<\/p>\n With 39 seconds left, fans silently filled the aisles and literally turned their back on their beloved Lakers, who historically dropped thisseries four games to one.<\/p>\n Historically, because it was the first time the Lakers lost a first-round series as a No. 3 or higher seed.<\/p>\n No, they never folded this dramatically.<\/p>\n \u201cDisappointment,\u201d LeBron James<\/a> said. \u201cUnfulfillment.\u201d<\/p>\n He could say that again. Disappointment in that they finished the regular season as one of the best teams in the league. Unfulfillment in that many thought they were worthy of a march toward a championship.<\/p>\n They lost even though they thrilled their fans and frightened the league with their February addition of Luka Doncic<\/a>.<\/p>\n They lost even though 40-year-old James was inspired by the addition of his son, Bronny,<\/a> and had one of his most complete seasons.<\/p>\n They lost even though Austin Reaves had a breakout season<\/a> as a scorer worthy of giving the Lakers a legitimate Big Three.<\/p>\n They lost even though it was generally agreed that coach JJ Redick was having an outstanding rookie season<\/a>.<\/p>\n They lost because Minnesota was everything they wanted to be but were not.<\/p>\n They lost because Minnesota was tougher in the clutch, outscoring the Lakers by 42 points in the series\u2019 five fourth quarters.<\/p>\n Timberwolves forward Julius Randle scores while putting his hand on the face of Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt during Game 5 of their NBA playoff series Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena.<\/p>\n (Robert Gauthier\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n They lost because Minnesota wasn\u2019t about the hype, the Timberwolves were about the struggle, the battle for each possession, doubling the Lakers\u2019 second-chance points Wednesday, competing in each individual battle as if it were their last.<\/p>\n They lost because Minnesota was stronger in the paint, dominating the Lakers so thoroughly that Wednesday\u2019s leading scorer was defensive specialist Rudy Gobert, who had 27 points and 24 rebounds against a defenseless Lakers interior.<\/p>\n Minnesota was more of a team, more collaborative, more together, more committed.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were just the better team this series, to be honest,\u201d Dorian Finney-Smith<\/a> said.<\/p>\n The game was played as if the Lakers already were beaten, as if their pregame chant was a reprise of former guard Nick Van Exel\u2019s infamous \u201c1-2-3 Cancun!\u201d chant in 1998 before the Lakers were swept by the Utah Jazz.<\/p>\n The Lakers were on the brink of elimination, yet it was the Timberwolves who played with desperation. The Lakers were on the verge of ending their season on their home court, yet it was the Timberwolves who played with all the passion.<\/p>\n The Timberwolves jumped to a 14-point lead in the first quarter and settled into a 10-point lead at halftime with an even bigger edge in body language.<\/p>\n The Lakers came back to briefly take the lead in the third quarter and even led by a point on a Doncic rainbow jumper with 6:29 remaining in the fourth, but what ensued was typical of a team that had no idea how to play with its back against the wall.<\/p>\n Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker drives past Lakers forward LeBron James and his teammates late in Game 5 of their first round NBA playoff series Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena.<\/p>\n (Robert Gauthier\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n James airball. Gobert follow-up dunk. Maxi Kleber \u2014 what was he doing in the game? \u2014 miss. James miss. Doncic miss. James miss. Kleber stepped on the baseline. And so on.<\/p>\n The game ended appropriately with Minnesota\u2019s Naz Reid grabbing an offensive rebound off a missed free throw and hugging the ball like Minnesota hugged this victory.<\/p>\n That fourth quarter showed some of the Lakers\u2019 vulnerability, starting with James\u2019 age. He clearly wore down as he made just two baskets combined in the last two fourth quarters.<\/p>\n Then there was Reaves, who had a generally lousy series with five baskets in the five fourth quarters and missed eight of 10 three-pointers in the deciding game.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can point the finger at me,\u201d Reaves said. \u201cI didn\u2019t play good enough for us to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n Reaves is right. He was their biggest disappointment. But help could be coming for all of them.<\/p>\n While any first-round loss is a stain on the Lakers\u2019 legacy, at least this loss comes with hope.<\/p>\n Hope that this team is not far from being a championship team. Hope that this coach is not far from being an outstanding coach. Hope that they are closer to greatness than this loss would indicate.<\/p>\n Remember, for all of their veteran savvy, this team is still a relative toddler, the two best players having been together barely three months and their coach in his first year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just probably need a little more time together,\u201d Finney-Smith said.<\/p>\n James and Doncic will mesh better next season if both return, and both are expected to return.<\/p>\n James has all but confirmed he wants to end his career as a Laker, so he\u2019s not expected to use his player option to flee, and he\u2019s aged so incredibly, even his biggest critics must acknowledge he should stay.<\/p>\n In recent years this space repeatedly called for James to be traded<\/a>, but no more. This year he proved that his entertainment value outweighs any burden his contract places on the roster, and now that he has the exciting Doncic as his running mate, his veteran leadership actually could lead to one more title in the probable two years before he calls it quits.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have an answer to that,\u201d James said late Wednesday when asked about retirement. \u201cWe\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n The Lakers bench watches the action during the second quarter of the team\u2019s Game 5 playoff loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena.<\/p>\n (Robert Gauthier\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n He always says that. And he\u2019s always returned.<\/p>\n Doncic also could leave by expressing such unhappiness that the Lakers would be forced to trade him before his contract expires after next season, but he seems to like it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Doncic constantly has expressed great respect for the franchise and its grandiose history, and this week he put his money behind that respect by contributing $5,000 to the restoration of a graffiti-scarred Kobe Bryant mural<\/a>. This, after he paid for parking for many Lakers fans<\/a> on the night of his debut.<\/p>\n Doncic is a top-five talent, he\u2019s fun, he\u2019s embraceable, he\u2019s the perfect person to lead the Lakers into the next era.<\/p>\n If Doncic is actually given a preseason to work with James and Reaves, who knows what they can accomplish?<\/p>\n \u201cAny time you make a big acquisition in the middle of the season it\u2019s always going to be challenging,\u201d James said. \u201cThe whole dynamic changed. I still don\u2019t think we had enough time to mesh.\u201d<\/p>\n All they need is \u2026 you guessed it \u2026 a center.<\/p>\n \u201cNo comment,\u201d James said. \u201cMy guy [Anthony Davis] said what he needed and he was gone the following week.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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