Minnesota Timberwolves' victory with message to Los Angeles Lakers: We rule the West

LEBron James did not play and the Los Angeles Lakers were clearly defeated at the crypto.com arena by Minnesota Timberwolves 127-117 in an agile duel for Naz Reid, who came up big with 31 points and 11 rebounds;

Anthony Edwards was also at a high level and finished the game with 26 points and 8 assists. Rudy Gobert provided great defensive activity and also added 18 points and 16 rebounds. Off the bench, Nick Alexander-Walker scored 15 points.

For the Lakers, problems. In addition to not playing LeBron James, Anthony Davis was only present in the first quarter due to physical problems. Rui Hachimura was not enough with 30 points. Spencer Dinwiddie went for 18 and D'Angelo Russell contributed 15 points and 11 assists. Austin Reaves scored 14 points and Jaxson Hayes 19 off the bench.

The Lakers fall back to ninth place in the West with this loss and could even drop to tenth if they lose their head-to-head matchup with the Golden State Warriors this coming Thursday. The Wolves are tied for first with the Denver Nuggets right now. Tremendous.