Minnesota, New York, Denver and Indianapolis took their Game 1s as the NBA playoffs began Saturday. Here are our takeaways from the action.

In the night’s finale, the Los Angeles Lakers fell to a heavy defeat in front of their home fans, losing 117-95 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of their Western Conference best-of-seven series.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves have the assets to repeat or even surpass their run last year to the Western Conference finals, with a go-to player who's one of the biggest stars in the game, a couple of shutdown defenders, and a productive and versatile bench, to name a few.