Jimmy Butler, Timberwolves Defeat Lonzo Ball-, Brandon Ingram-Less Lakers

Jimmy Butler had 23 points, eight assists, five rebounds and two steals as the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 121-104 at the Staples Center on Monday night.

The Lakers were without Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram, who are recovering from shoulder and quad injuries, respectively.

Butler made his first seven field goals en route to hitting 11 of 20. The Lakers simply had no answer for him, as the seven-year veteran hit his outside jumpers and finished in the lane like so on this reverse layup:

However, the Wolves couldn't stop Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma, who is making a strong case for Rookie of the Year with his recent play. The former Utah Ute filled the stat sheet, posting 31 points, four assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block.

His versatility was on display all night, like when he played the point and handed off to fellow rookie Josh Hart for a dunk:

Kuzma, who hit six three-pointers, also made some history in the midst of joining some lofty Christmas Day company, as noted by the Lakers:

L.A., who trailed 29-20 after the first quarter, crawled back and took an 84-83 lead early in the fourth quarter after Julius Randle made a layup following some nifty ball-handling and passing from Tyler Ennis:

But Karl-Anthony Towns and Jamal Crawford proved to be too tough down the stretch. After the Randle bucket, the Minnesota duo scored all the points in a 13-0 run to give their team a 96-84 advantage. The key play in the run was this Towns slam:

The Lakers would eventually cut the Minnesota lead to six points with 4:30 remaining, but power forward Taj Gibson responded with a hook shot and corner three-pointer on consecutive possessions to give the Timberwolves an 11-point edge.

Gibson tied Butler for the team lead in scoring with 23 points (on 11-of-13 shooting) and also grabbed nine boards. Towns finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Crawford shot 7-of-10 en route to 19. As a team, the Wolves were an efficient 58.3 percent from the field.

For the Lakers, Jordan Clarkson filled in for the injured Lonzo Ball and scored 17 points in addition to seven assists, six rebounds and four steals. Randle added 16 points and seven rebounds in just 19 minutes off the bench.

On an interesting note, the NBA on TNT studio crew called the game courtside, with Ernie Johnson calling play-by-play and Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley providing color commentary:

The T-Wolves moved to 21-13 with the win, while the Lakers dropped to 11-21.