Without Towns, Timberwolves fall 127-91 to Lakers

LOS ANGELES — Kyle Kuzma scored 20 points in the first half while starting in Anthony Davis’ place, and LeBron James added 18 points in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 127-91 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night.

Star big men Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns sat out. The Lakers’ Davis has a bruised calf that isn’t expected to be a long-term problem, while Minnesota’s Towns has a dislocated left wrist that could be more serious.

Kuzma had a phenomenal opening half in his first start since agreeing to a three-year, $40 million contract extension with the NBA champions. He hit three consecutive 3-pointers to open the scoring in a wire-to-wire win for Los Angeles, which led by 20 in the first quarter and 36 in the third.

Marc Gasol had 12 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in just 21 minutes for the Lakers, while James tied Kevin Garnett for fourth place in NBA history by scoring at least 10 points for the 1,260th time.

No. 1 pick Anthony Edwards had 15 points on 6-of-21 shooting in the Timberwolves’ first loss of the season. Minnesota missed its first 12 3-point attempts while falling behind by 23 early in the second quarter.

Not a banner night for the #Timberwolves but many of the team’s young players had some bright moments

Highlights ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/KsgZYm4YVk

— FOX Sports North (@fsnorth) December 28, 2020

TIP-INS

Timberwolves: Jaden McDaniels scored his first NBA points on a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. … Josh Okogie went to the locker room in the second quarter after a layup attempt with minimal contact. The team said it was only cramping. … Towns was examined Sunday in Los Angeles. He won’t require surgery, but the injury will be evaluated weekly.

Lakers: Davis went through an extensive pregame workout. … James rolled his left ankle in the first half for the second time in a week, but stayed in the game.

“There were a lot of things I didn’t like tonight.”

Coach Saunders talks about what went wrong for the #Timberwolves against the Lakers ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Ua42rZ0dgh

— FOX Sports North (@fsnorth) December 28, 2020

UP NEXT

Timberwolves: At Clippers on Tuesday.

Lakers: Host Portland on Monday.