Lakers overtake Timberwolves in standings with 123-111 win

MINNEAPOLIS(AP) — Anthony Davis scored 17 of his 38 points in the fourthquarter and had 17 rebounds to lift the Los Angeles Lakers pastMinnesota 123-111 and leapfrog the Timberwolves on Friday night inthe crowded Western Conference playoff race.

“You’ve gotto have that one pivotal force that’s leading the charge, and inour case with this particular team here in the moment it’s AD,”Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “When he comes out and he’saggressive and we’re feeding him and he’s not settling and he’sputting pressure on the paint, putting pressure on the rim, we findourselves having a lot of success.”

LeBron Jamesadded 18 points and 10 rebounds and D’Angelo Russell had 12 pointsand 10 assists against his former team as the Lakers (39-38) wonfor the fifth time in six games to move into seventh place. They’reeven with New Orleans, owning the head-to-head tiebreaker over thePelicans.

“We’ve madesome huge climbs, but we’re not finished,” said Davis, who also had38 points Wednesday in the win at Chicago. “We’re hungry to notonly make the playoffs but make some noise.”

The Lakersimproved to 9-4 since losing at home to the Wolves on March 3.

“We jumped onAD’s back, and he brought us home,” James said.

Mike Conleyhad 25 points on 7-for-11 shooting with seven assists beforefouling out, and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 23 points for theTimberwolves (39-39), who tumbled into ninth place. They enteredthe evening one game behind Golden State and the cut to avoid theplay-in tournament, with the Warriors tipping off later at homeagainst San Antonio.

Davis scored12 straight points for the Lakers over a 3:52 span late in thefourth quarter to seal the steely comeback from a deficit that hit13 points shortly after halftime. He made five baskets in a rowwith Wolves center Rudy Gobert on the bench, dominating on theglass, in the post and at the rim.

“He’s playingat a super high level right now,” Wolves coach Chris Finchsaid.

The Lakerstook charge earlier with a 24-2 spurt over a 6:49 stretch of thethird quarter with their defense on lockdown mode. Conley’s turn torest on the bench during that run was ill-timed. Davis rolled hisleft ankle around the start of the Lakers surge, a breath-holdingsequence that only seemed to energize the visitors.

“We startedto turn the ball over, and the ball started to stick much more,”Gobert said. “We kind of lost our flow offensively, and it reallyaffected our defense.”

The Wolves,whose bench was shortened without center Naz Reid andhisbroken wrist, went 2for 14 from 3-point range in the third quarter and were outscored35-18 in a discouraging stretch for a fired-up crowd that includedlocal sports superstars Justin Jefferson and Kirill Kaprizov infloor seats.

FEELING BETTER

James hasbeen rebuilding his stamina from themonth-long absenceto atorn tendon in his right foot, and the second time with this newstarting lineup with Davis, Russell, Austin Reaves and JarredVanderbilt produced a second win to start this five-game roadtrip.

“I’ll be inthe lineup on Sunday, so that’s the best response I can have,”James said.

Davis, forhis part, said he finished the game on adrenaline and would be fineto play on Sunday, too.

WHISTLE STOP

Gobert($25,000) and Finch ($15,000) werefined by the NBA for criticizingthe officiating Wednesday after their loss at Phoenix when the Sunshad 27 free-throw attempts and the Wolves had 12.

In tonight'sgame, the Wolves went to the line 19 times — making 16 — and theLakers had 30 tries.

TIP-INS

Lakers:Vanderbilt had 12 points. ... Another former Wolves player, MalikBeasley, had three first-quarter 3-pointers.

Timberwolves:Anthony Edwards had 11 points on just 4-for-16 shooting. ... Goberthad 14 points and 11 rebounds.

UPNEXT

Lakers: AtHouston on Sunday night.

Timberwolves:Host Portland on Sunday.