The Lakers were not good on Tuesday, all things considered. They were too loose with the ball, they missed too many wide open shots, they made some horrible, poorly-timed choices. And yet in the end, they still managed to beat a shorthanded Minnesota Timberwolves squad, 108-102 in overtime. With the win, they advance to the main draw of the Western Conference playoffs, and will face the Memphis Grizzlies with Game 1 on Sunday.

The best thing about the game was the victory, and the four days of rest it'll bring the Lakers before Game 1 in Memphis.

Anthony Davis had his moments offensively (24 points) and LeBron James led the Lakers in scoring (30), but as has been the trend aggressive defense made it hard for Davis to maneuver, and while James scored a lot, he was very loose with the ball, made some uncharacteristically poor decisions and was not all that good defensively. (He finished as a -14 in a game the Lakers won by six.)

Dennis Schroder, however, was a monster in the second half, shaking off an ankle sprain to finish with 21 points, including what should have been the game winner in regulation.

Where the Lakers won, though, was on defense. After allowing 60 points in the first half, they surrendered 16 over the final 17 minutes of play, through the fourth quarter and OT. That's pretty impressive. Sure, Minnesota ran out of gas, but 17 points? Including three over the final six minutes of the game? That's doing work.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers won. They won ugly. But they won.

SEGMENT 2: Why did the Lakers win? Defense. Tons of it in the fourth and OT.

SEGMENT 3: LeBron James needs some rest, and the Lakers were able to get him some with the win.

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