LOS ANGELES >> Minnesota knew all week what approach it would need to beat the defense the Wolves were sure the Lakers would employ in this series.

Los Angeles would clog the paint to cut off driving lanes, leaving a number of open shooters out on the perimeter. It was on the Wolves to knock the triple tries down.

Anthony Edwards laid it out simply on Wednesday.

“We all gotta be on the same page,” the guard said. “At this point in the season, it don’t matter who gets 20 points, 30 points. It don’t matter if I have five points. It don’t matter if Julius has five points. Some nights it might be Naz gets 30. This whole series Jaden might average 25. It doesn’t matter who gets all the buckets and shots, man. We gotta be willing to shoot the ball, no matter if we making or missing shots. We gotta be confident.”

They were nothing if not that in Game 1 on Saturday.

Trailing by seven after one frame, Minnesota exploded offensively over the final three quarters to trounce the Lakers, 117-95.

And Jaden McDaniels had 25 points. Naz Reid had 23. Edwards had 22 and Randle had 16.

Minnesota drilled 21 triples on a night where it shot 51 percent from deep. Most of those looks were open.

“Once we settled into the gameplan and offensively, picked up our pace and our decision making and the concepts that we had been focusing on, things started coming together,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said.

The entire offense opened up to start the second frame, when Reid and Donte DiVincenzo injected pace into the game both through getting up and down the floor, but also with heavy ball and player movement in the half court.

“Outstanding job by those guys coming in and giving us a jolt at the right time,” Finch said.

The Lakers have savvy players who can play good team defense when set, but Minnesota was able to move the slower bodies via passing and cutting, which caused the Lakers’ defense to largely collapse.

Edwards missed the final half of the third quarter after leaving the contest with cramps, but he returned early in the final frame. L

os Angeles trailed by 26 at one point in the third, but trimmed its deficit to 12 points in the fourth quarter as Luka Doncic, who had a game-high 37 points, but just one assist, went on another of his numerous flurries in the game.

But Edwards and Randle hit a couple tough jumpers to stem the tide, and Minnesota eventually put the game to bed to grab a 1-0 series lead.

Game 2 is in Los Angeles on Tuesday.