Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Lakers Game 1 Preview, Prediction & Odds | April 19, 2025

The Minnesota Timberwolves travel to the Crypto.com Arena to play the Los Angeles Lakers in the first game of their playoff series this Saturday. This will be these two teams first matchup at full strength since the Lakers acquired Luka Doncic earlier in the season.  Minnesota is the lower seed and the underdog in this game but don’t count them out. The Timberwolves are one of the only teams to finish the season with a top five rating in both offensive and defensive ranking.

The other teams are all top seeds in their conferences. There has also been a lot of chatter between these two teams going into this series before the playoffs even started. This is certainly the marquee matchup of the first round as the Luka-era Lakers face their first postseason test. 

Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Lakers Odds

Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Lakers Match Details

• Date and Time: Saturday, April 19, 2025 at 8:30PM EST
• Location: Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA

Minnesota Fine With Underdog Label Against Lakers

Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards hears all the noise as media members seem to majority back Los Angeles in this series. Many in the media even think the Lakers are already a shoe-in to make the NBA Finals this season. “I just love it. It’s dope,” Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards said. “I love the fact that everybody wants the Lakers to win. That’s how it’s supposed to be. They don’t want the Timberwolves to win. I get it.”

Let’s not forget that the biggest criticism that the Luka-LeBron Lakers have been facing coming into this postseason is the lack of a true big man. Minnesota certainly has that in Rudy Gobert and across the Minnesota Timberwolves lineup they have size that may be able to cause trouble for the Lakers in this series. Julius Randle will be also making his playoff debut for the Timberwolves, not to be overshadowed by Luka in LA.

Luka – LeBron Led Lakers Make Playoff Debut

The biggest story going into this game is of course Luka Doncic’s playoff debut in a Lakers uniform. Lakers fans have quickly warmed up to him. He has the chance to cement his legacy as a legend early on if he can take the Lakers on a deep playoff run, especially if he leads them to a championship like many believe he could. There’s a long way to go to get to that stage though and taking things one thing at a time the Lakers may face something of a matchup problem in this game.

Jaxson Hayes will have to come up big for the Lakers in this series. While many believe that outside of Anthony Edwards, many of Minnesota’s star players have the tendency to disappear in the playoffs it’s still going to take a group effort from Hayes, Rui Hachimura and even LeBron James to deal with the T-Wolves size. I believe that coach JJ Reddick is up to the task and ready to put his team in the right position and win the first game at home. We will see if this series gets interesting or not when the Lakers travel to Minnesota. Until then, Timberwolves, Timberlands, Justin Timberlake, Lakers in 5.

Final Pick

Lakers to win and point total over 219.5 (+175)