The Los Angeles Lakers (50-32) are two nights away from their first game of the 2025 NBA playoffs. They’ll host the Minnesota Timberwolves (49-33) at the Crypto.com Arena on Saturday for Game 1 of the first round, having earned home-court advantage with the No. 3 seed.

The Lakers secured a high seed despite a challenging season highlighted by the midseason upheaval that was the Luka Doncic trade. Doncic is the reigning Western Conference Finals MVP and will hope to return to the Finals in the purple and gold of the Lakers this season.

While Luka isn’t an avid social media user, he does have a presence across platforms. Doncic shared a hype mix about the Lakers with the playoffs just days away. It showcases the current roster’s best moments of the regular season, hyping up fans to support the Lakers ahead of the playoffs.

Doncic’s message was simple, underscored by two emojis – one of a muscle and the other of an hourglass. Time is ticking for the start of the playoffs, and Doncic expects the Lakers’ strength to shine through.

Doncic has had a rough regular season, starting the campaign with the Dallas Mavericks before joining the Lakers in February.

He’s averaged 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.5 assists with the Lakers, picking up his form toward the end of the season after fully assimilating into JJ Redick’s offense.

Luka is in the best physical shape of any point in this season, and his form seems to be peaking at the right time, with the . This week-long break before the playoffs will be crucial to keep his energy up as they face a tough challenge from the Timberwolves.

Doncic easily defeated the Wolves in the 2024 Western Conference finals, averaging 32.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 8.2 assists en route to a 4-1 rout. However, he doesn’t have the Mavericks supporting cast around him anymore.

He does have the likes of LeBron James and Austin Reaves, and it seems like he’ll be willing to take on anyone with them by his side.