Timberwolves beat Lakers in 5, advance to Western Conference Semifinals

Chris Finch reacts after Timberwolves eliminate Lakers [RAW]

Chris Finch spoke with reporters after the Timberwolves beat the Lakers 103-96 Wednesday night to win the best-of-five series 4-1 and advance to the Western Conference Semifinals.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Timberwolves are headed back to the Western Conference Semifinals, and they have Rudy Gobert to thank for it.

The Timberwolves beat the L.A. Lakers 103-96 Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena to win the best-of-seven series 4-1, knocking out LeBron James and Luka Doncic. They got a career night from Gobert to get there.

Rudy Gobert reacts to his historic Game 5

Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert reacted to his history-making playoff performance over the Los Angeles Lakers, with 27 points, 24 rebounds, two blocks, on 80 percent shooting. He's the first player since 1996 to put together a 25/20 game on 80 percent shooting.

Huge night for Rudy Gobert

Why you should care:

In a game where making shots was a struggle, Gobert came to the rescue for the Timberwolves. He had 27 points on 12-of-15 shooting, and 24 rebounds. He entered Game 5 with 14 points combined through the first four games.

Julius Randle added 23 points, five rebounds and four assists. Despite an awful night shooting, Anthony Edwards had 15 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and three steals.

Anthony Edwards talks Rudy's big night

Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards celebrated Rudy Gobert's historic playoff performance, which helped the team close out its series against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Awful night from 3-point range

By the numbers:

The Timberwolves got the win despite their worst performance of the season from the perimeter. They went just 7-of-47 (14.9 percent) from three-point range. Edwards went 0-for-11 by himself. Randle and Donte DiVicenzo went a combined 3-of-18.

Western Conference Semifinals

Timeline:

For the first time in franchise history, the Timberwolves are in the Western Conference Semifinals for the second straight year. They’ll face the winner of the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets, which the Warriors lead 3-2 and play Game 6 Friday night.

That means the Timberwolves will get some rest before the next series. They're looking to build off last year's run to the Western Conference Finals.