LOS ANGELES — The marching orders were clear for the Lakers entering Tuesday’s Game 2 matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves after Saturday’s blowout home loss.

Be more aggressive. More organized. More physical.

Set the tone, rather than allow the Timberwolves to do so.

Mission accomplished, with the Lakers stepping up their aggressiveness in Tuesday’s 94-85 win over the Timberwolves to tie the series at one apiece before heading to Minneapolis for Games 3 (Friday) and 4 (Sunday) at Target Center.

Luka Doncic once again led the Lakers from the jump, scoring 16 points of his game-high scoring total (31 points) in the opening quarter to help his team jump out to a 34-15 lead going into the second. The Lakers’ lead grew to as many as 22 (53-31) late in the second quarter.

But it wasn’t just the scoring from Doncic, who had 37 points in Game 1, that helped propel the Lakers to victory.

It was their increased physicality with their defensive switching — evident by their 24 fouls after picking up just 10 on Saturday. It was not unnecessarily ceding space for the Timberwolves to attack or pick their defense apart. And being sharper with their off-ball/help defense.

It was also being more organized offensively by running through their set more frequently and being more deliberate with how they attacked Minnesota’s defense after seeing in Game 1 that the Timberwolves weren’t deploying the hedging/blitzing defensive game plan they expected. And creating easier looks, which also helped keep the Timberwolves out of transition after scoring 25 fastbreak points in Game 1.

Even with the Timberwolves cutting their deficit to nine multiple times, including 90-81 late in the fourth quarter, the Lakers did enough early to pull out the near wire-to-wire victory.

After having a slow start in Game 1, LeBron James bounced back on Tuesday, finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Austin Reaves had 16 points, five assists and five rebounds, shooting 7-of-14 from the field despite missing all six of his 3-point attempts.

The Lakers (6 for 29 — 20.7%) and Timberwolves (5 for 25 — 20%) both struggled with their shooting from beyond the arc.

In addition to his scoring total, Doncic had 12 rebounds and nine assists — eight more assists than he had in Game 1.

Doncic led the Lakers in getting deeper into the paint on drives, forcing the Timberwolves into rotation and creating openings in Minnesota’s defense.

Anthony Edwards (25 points, six rebounds) once again struggled against the help defense the Lakers showed him, shooting 10 for 22 from the field. The Lakers were even more aggressive with their defensive coverages against Edwards, trapping and blitzing him in pick and rolls, a factor in Edwards not recording an assist.

Julius Randle (team-high 27 points) was the only other Minnesota player to score in double figures.