On December 22, Beijing time, the NBA regular season Lakers played away against the Timberwolves, the first in the West, and both teams were back-to-back games, and James was absent due to injury. The Lakers, led by Brother Thick Eyebrows, only trailed by 4 points in the first three quarters with the Timberwolves, but the Timberwolves gradually opened up a double-digit gap in the final quarter. The Lakers fought back to chase the difference of 5 points, Towns returned to the locker room early with discomfort in his left leg, the Timberwolves opened the gap again, the Lakers failed to complete the comeback, and finally the Lakers lost 111-118 to the Timberwolves to swallow 4 consecutive defeats, the Lakers lost 5 of the last 6 games, and the Timberwolves tied the Celtics with a 21-6 record, but with the help of the 1-0 confrontation overtook the Green Army to return to the first place in the league. 
Statistics Lakers: James was absent, Bushy Brother 31 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks, Hachimura 18 points, Prince 4 three-pointers and 14 points, Russell 17 points, 8 assists and 3 blocks, Reaves 20 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Timberwolves: Edwards 27 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals, McDaniels 14 points, Towns 21 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, Gobert 15 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks, Conley 4 three-pointers, 16 points and 8 assists, Lee Kyle 9 points. Although the Lakers unfortunately lost to the Timberwolves and swallowed 4 consecutive defeats, and lost 5 of the last 6 games, Brother Thick Eyebrows still performed well with 30+, especially including the midseason championship finals, Brother Thick Eyebrows has been in 30+ form 5 times in the past 6 games. Focus shots
James took a break and watched the game with snacks off the court. 
Edwards roared in the air. 
Prince hit a three-pointer from the buzzer. 
Russell's layup was blocked by a rebound and was replaced by Hamm. 
Hachimura was fouled by Reed in the first degree, hit him hard in the face, and fell to the ground fortunately. 
Russell's pass to Hayes's crotch is out of bounds. Game review: James is out due to injury, the Lakers are still missing Vincent and Schifino, and the Timberwolves are missing Clark. In the first quarter, Conley hit a three-point shot, Russell made two layups and Prince made a layup, and Brother Thick Mei scored 4 points in a row and a long pass to Hachimura, and the Lakers took a 7-point lead with a 12-2 offensive wave. The Timberwolves responded with a wave of 9-2 offensive ties, with Bushy Eyebrows and Edwards scoring two points each, Hachimura scoring three-pointers and Bushy Eyebrows scoring on a mid-range shot, and Reed and Reaves hitting a three-pointer. The Timberwolves bloomed a wave of 12-0 offense to overtake 7 points, Reddish hit both free throws, Edwards dunked in the air, Russell 2+1 and Edwards three-point attack, Prince hit a three-point shot, and the Lakers trailed the Timberwolves 32-36 at the end of the first quarter. Bushy Eyebrows had 10 points, four rebounds and two assists on 4-of-6 shooting, and Edwards had 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting. 
In the second quarter, Reeves hit a shot, Li Kaier responded with 2+1, Reddish and Reeves hit the inside line one after another to chase points, and Downs scored 7 points in a row. Reaves 2+1 and Hachimura scored three points, the Timberwolves scored 5 points in a row to expand the 9-point advantage, Brother Thick Mei scored 6 points in a row, and the Timberwolves hit 4 free throws. Hachimura scored on two mid-range shots, McDaniels made three points and Gobert dunked, Bushy Eyebrows hit both free throws, and McDaniels hit another three-pointer. Reaves hit two free throws and Prince made a three-pointer, and McDaniels missed a three-pointer at the buzzer, and the Lakers trailed the Timberwolves 59-63 at halftime. In the first two quarters, the Lakers made 4 of 7 three-pointers, Brother Thick Mei led 3 people to score double-doubles with 18 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, the Timberwolves made 9 of 19 three-point shots, and Edwards led three people to score double-doubles with 14 points.
In the rematch, Conley hit a three-pointer first, Bushy Eyebrows scored four points in a row to stop the Timberwolves, Towns scored on a layup, Reddish scored four points in a row, and Gobert hit two free throws. Prince chased three points to tie the score at 70-70, the Timberwolves opened the score again with a wave of 7-0 offense, Reaves chased four points in a row, and Gobert received a dunk in the air. Brother Bush scored 5 in a row to tie it at 79-79, Edwards scored on a mid-range shot, and Hachimura and Edwards hit a three-pointer. Hachimura's dunk was hit hard in the face by Reed and fell, Reed was whistled for a first-degree malicious foul and sent two free throws, Reed hit a three-point shot at the buzzer in 24 seconds, Reaves missed a three-point shot at the buzzer, and the Lakers trailed the Timberwolves 83-87 at the end of the third quarter. In the first three quarters, the Lakers made 6 of 14 three-point shots, Brother Thick Mei led the Lakers 4 to score double-doubles with 27+8+4, the Timberwolves made 12 of 30 three-pointers, and Edwards led the Timberwolves to score 4 double-doubles with 23 points.
At the beginning of the final quarter, the Timberwolves scored 4 points in a row, Hachimura made a steal and dunked, Lee Kaier hit a hook shot, and Reaves hit a mid-range shot to chase the score. The Timberwolves scored another 3 points, Russell chased 2+1 points, Towns hit a throw, and Brother Thick Eyebrows chased three points to a difference of 5 points. Downs made a layup and Russell hit a mid-range shot, Gobert dunked, Russell passed the ball to Hayes's crotch and missed out of bounds, and Gobert scored another layup. Russell and Hachimura made layups in quick succession to chase the difference of 5 points, Edwards responded with 2+1, and Downs was substituted for left leg discomfort and returned to the locker room. Walker's three-pointer extended the 11-point advantage to stop the Lakers, Prince made three points and two free throws to chase the points, and Lee Kyle assisted Gobert to hit an empty catch. Conley hit another three-pointer, the Lakers missed one after another, Edwards hit one of two free throws, and Russell hit two consecutive three-pointers to chase down the seven-point deficit to stop the Timberwolves. Thick eyebrows big hat Edwards, Russell missed three points, Conley assisted Gobert for a dunk, the Lakers made another mistake and were unable to recover, and finally the Lakers lost to the Timberwolves and swallowed 4 consecutive defeats.
Lakers starters: Russell, Prince, Reddish, Hachimura, Timberwolves: Conley, Edwards, McDaniels, Towns, Gobert