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The Los Angeles Lakers earned their first home win of the 2025-26 season Friday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The 128-110 victory from the purple and gold was an encouraging turnaround for the Lakers, a team that dropped their season opener to the Golden State Warriors. Against their bitter rivals, the Lakers had an abysmal third quarter on opening night with the second half starting as a one-point game but quickly turned to a 17-point deficit as the Lakers were outscored 19-4. More news: Jason Kidd Sends Message to Mavericks Fans After 0-2 Start, ‘Fire Nico’ Chants Austin Reaves spoke about the Lakers’ struggles in the third frame against Golden State, noting it has been an ongoing issues since joining the team. “We’ve just been bad third quarter,” Reaves said. “Last couple of years for sure, but I think ever since I’ve been here, we’ve had a problem with the third quarter. So, just got to figure out a way to come out with a little more energy. First thing JJ talked about after was just figuring out a way to be better in that third quarter. That’s on us players, that’s not on the coaches. They come in here and give us the answers to the test, and we just didn’t come out and execute. So, that’s on us, and we have to be better.” On Friday, the Lakers began the second half on a high note scoring a collective 40 points with nine rebounds and limiting turnovers to just two in the third quarter. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 24: Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts during play against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second half at Crypto.com Arena on October 24, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) What spurred the drastic change in performance in the third quarter for the Lakers? It appears a change of operations played a part for LA as a couple players came out of the locker room and began taking shots while the halftime show was still wrapping up, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Perhaps this will become a regular occurrence for the Lakers. A couple Lakers players emerged from the locker room and started taking shots on one basket while the halftime show was still wrapping up. Appears to be a change of operations to try to address the poor 3rd Q on opening night.— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 25, 2025 Lakers head coach JJ Redick joked about the team’s historic struggles to start the second half following LA’s big win at Crypto.com Arena. “I think for the first time in Lakers history the other team called a timeout in the third quarter,” Redick joked, per Thuc Nhi Nguyen of The Los Angeles Times. More news: Mavericks Guard Reveals Unfiltered Reaction to Luka Doncic Trade For all the latest NBA news and rumors, head over to Newsweek Sports.
