LeBron James was impressed with the Los Angeles Lakers' response to a third-quarter grilling from head coach JJ Redick in their victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Having seen their 22-point lead cut midway through the third quarter, Redick unloaded on his players in a furious rant as they looked to wrestle back control of the game. 

After the huddle, the Lakers used a 9-0 run to push their lead back to 20 points and held on to win 94-85 to even the first-round series at 1-1.

"That's JJ," James said. "Obviously, we need to listen to the message and not how he's delivering it. I thought we responded after that."

It was a much-needed response from Los Angeles, who bounced back from their 117-95 thrashing in Game 1 against the Timberwolves last Saturday. 

After being outscored 25-6 in fast-break points in Game 1, Los Angeles led 13-6 in Game 2.

Minnesota set a franchise postseason record by going 21-for-42 on 3-pointers in the opener, and the Lakers held the Timberwolves to 5-for-25 on 3s on Tuesday.

After the Timberwolves controlled the boards 44-38 in Game 1, the Lakers had the rebounding edge, 41-34, with James citing the reasons for his team's improvement. 

"We had a tough practice yesterday, and we went at it yesterday. One of the best practices we've had all year," James added.

"We kind of knew coming out of that what type of disposition we had to play with."

Nothing like that playoff win feeling pic.twitter.com/eJbLK1VIgU

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 23, 2025

Three other Lakers starters scored in double digits. James had 21 points on 8-for-19 shooting with 11 rebounds and seven assists. 

Austin Reaves had 16 points with five rebounds and five assists, while Rui Hachimura had 11 points with five rebounds and two steals.

Hachimura also made plays on both ends of the floor with Redick heaping praise on him after he was hit in the face in the first quarter and forced to leave the court. 

"He played like a warrior tonight," Redick said of Hachimura. "I'm sure that he is probably in the X-ray room right now.

"There were a few plays that he made just getting deflections and disrupting plays. He was awesome."