When the Los Angeles Lakers kicked off their preseason in early October, it was against the Minnesota Timberwolves. When they started the regular season a few weeks later, their first opponent was the Timberwolves. Fast-forward 81 games and a blockbuster trade later, and guess who’s waiting for the No. 3-seeded Lakers in the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs? You guessed it: The No. 6-seeded Timberwolves.
It’s been more than 20 years since Minnesota’s original NBA team faced off against its current one in a playoff series, yet it is a matchup that, on one particularly level, feels very familiar. Luka Dončić wasn’t on the Lakers for the beginning of the preseason or the regular season, but he ended Minnesota’s 2024 postseason in a 4-1 Western Conference finals victory with the Dallas Mavericks.
For the first time since 2018, LeBron James has home-court advantage in a playoff series (remember that the entire 2020 postseason was technically played on neutral courts in Orlando). The James-Dončić partnership, thus far, has been a smashing success.
The Edwards-Julius Randle duo, meanwhile, has been a work in progress. These are not the same Timberwolves Dončić defeated a year ago, and after a rough start without Karl-Anthony Towns, this Minnesota team finished 17-4 to punch its ticket into the playoffs. So what can you expect as the Lakers and Timberwolves duke it out with a trip to the second round on the line? Below is the first-round schedule as well as the storylines to watch in this series.
Lakers vs. Timberwolves playoffs schedule
(All times Eastern)
Game 1: Timberwolves 117, Lakers 95Game 2: Tuesday, April 22 | Timberwolves at Lakers | 10 p.m., TNT/Max
Game 3: Friday, April 25 | Lakers at Timberwolves | 9:30 p.m., ESPN/fubo
Game 4: Sunday, April 27 | Lakers at Timberwolves | 3:30 p.m., ABC/fubo*Game 5: Wednesday, April 30 | Timberwolves at Lakers | Time/TV TBD*Game 6: Friday, May 2 | Lakers at Timberwolves | Time/TV TBD*Game 7: Sunday, May 4 | Timberwolves at Lakers | Time/TV TBD
(*=if necessary)
Lakers vs. Timberwolves odds
Series odds: LAL -195 | MIN +160Game 1 odds: LAL -4.5 | O/U: 215.5
(Odds via DraftKings)
CBS Sports will have updates below throughout the Lakers-Timberwolves series.
