night Luka Doncic struggled as he battled with a stomach bug that he had been dealing with going back to Thursday, with ESPN’s Lisa Salters first reporting the ailment during the first quarter of the game.

Doncic finished with 17 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, but shot 6-of-16 from the field (2 of 8 on 3s) and had five turnovers against a Minnesota defense that blitzed and trapped him more often compared to the first two games.

But late-game heroics from James and Doncic, and the Lakers’ hot shooting, were spoiled by the Lakers’ struggles with the smaller of the details of the game — factors that added up.

The Lakers turned the ball over 19 times, directly leading to 28 Minnesota points.

The Timberwolves scored 21 fastbreak points, quickly turning defense into offense against a Lakers team that often looked outmatched athletically.

The Lakers also missed seven of their 20 free-throw attempts, leaving valuable points on the board in a game they needed every one of them.

So even with James knocking down three straight 3s in the fourth to bring the Lakers’ deficit from seven (97-90) to one (100-99) midway through the fourth, or Doncic making a pair of free throws and a floater on back-to-back possessions to tie the game at 103, the Lakers didn’t overcome the hole they put themselves in.

And Anthony Edwards, who took a significant step in attacking the Lakers’ offense, burying the Lakers even deeper in that hole.

Edwards scored or assisted on the Timberwolves’ final 13 points, leading Minnesota down the stretch with his shotmaking and playmaking. The All-NBA guard finished with 29 points on 12-of-26 shooting to go with eight assists and eight rebounds.

Jaden McDaniels led the Timberwolves with 30 points on 13-of-22 shooting, while Julius Randle had 22 points.

The Timberwolves also got 11 points off the bench from Naz Reid, and 10 points from Donte DiVincenzo.

Austin Reaves was the lone other Laker besides James and Doncic to score in double figures, finishing with 20 points (7-of-18 shooting), seven rebounds and four assists.