Napheesa Collier spotted supporting Timberwolves as LeBron James and Luka Doncic come to town for Game 3
More than 19,000 fans were present at the Target Center to welcome LeBron James and Co. for Game 3 of the Lakers-Timberwolves first-round series. Among those in attendance was WNBA star Napheesa Collier.
Collier, a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ WNBA counterpart, was amped up even before the contest began. She shared an Instagram story from her courtside seat, capturing the home team’s player introductions.
Though James made a brief appearance in the clip, Collier revealed her alliance by captioning her story:
“Let’s go wolves”
During a timeout, the announcer in the arena also introduced Collier to the fans as the 2025 Unrivaled season MVP. As soon as the Lynx’s forward was shown on the jumbotron, the crowd erupted in cheers.
The four-time WNBA All-Star’s presence seemingly brought the Wolves immense luck. Despite LeBron James’ 38-point, 10-rebound spectacle, Minnesota clinched an enthralling 116-104 victory. Backed by the Jaden McDaniels-Anthony Edwards duo’s 59-point collective contribution, the Wolves now hold a 2-1 series lead.
The Wolves will surely hope to secure a Game 4 win on Sunday with hopes of taking a commanding 3-1 series lead and moving closer to their aspirations of winning the championship.
LeBron James reveals a reason behind the Lakers’ loss
It was clear from Luka Doncic’s sluggish performance on Friday that he wasn’t fully fit. After the game, JJ Redick confirmed that the Slovenian star had been dealing with a stomach bug, sharing that Doncic had been “vomiting all afternoon.”
Understandably, his health struggles kept him from playing at his usual level — a key factor in the loss, per LeBron James.
"Obviously with his illness, it impacts our team... Definitely took a big blow for our team,” James said in the postgame interview.
Despite battling with a non-contact illness, Doncic gathered the strength to spend nearly 40 minutes on the hardwood and put up 17 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. While he did stuff the stat sheet, Luka’s inefficiency was a major concern – 37.5% FG, including 25% 3FG, 5 turnovers, and a box plus-minus of -16.
The Purple & Gold have not provided any further injury updates yet. However, Lakers Nation will be hopeful that their star guard will recover in time for Sunday’s clash and help LeBron James co-lead the team to a win.