Burn the tapes, destroy all evidence of the contest but deposit the victory all the same.

The Timberwolves won a rock fight against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday at Target Center on a night where neither team performed particularly well.

It was a largely lethargic showing from both sides, with both teams coming off lengthy layoffs as a result of the in-season tournament. The Lakers committed 11 turnovers in the first quarter alone, and Minnesota also struggled to develop any sort of offensive rhythm for much of the evening.

But Minnesota outperformed its opponent by just enough to take a 97-87 win.

The Lakers (13-12) certainly helped. Los Angeles finished with 22 giveaways. In a three-possession span in the closing minutes, the Lakers lost a rebound in which Anthony Davis and Rui Hachimura tied one another up for it, they missed a pair of wide-open 3-pointers, and then watched as a missed Anthony Edwards’ free throw made its way back into his arms.

All of that allowed a five-point Wolves’ advantage to grow to 10 and effectively put the contest on ice.

So, Minnesota (13-11) emerged victorious on an evening where it shot 40% from the field and just 28% from 3-point range.

But that’s the way the Wolves have operated of late.

They haven’t scored 110 points in any of their last seven contests but are 5-2 in that stretch, because they’ve recaptured some of the defensive excellence that carried them to last year’s Western Conference finals. The Lakers shot 38% from the floor Friday and, while Anthony Davis scored 23 points, he required 21 shots to do so.

Jaden McDaniels’ resurgence on that end of the floor has largely set the tone. The wing was easily the star of the evening for the Wolves, continuing his strong play after a rough start to the campaign. McDaniels finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, a career-best five steals and two blocked shots. He brought juice on a night when few else supplied it.

“Just trying to bring some energy,” McDaniels said in his postgame, on-court television interview. “We had a couple days off, so just trying to bring a spark.”

Anthony Edwards scored a team-high 23 points in spite of a sluggish start. Julius Randle added 21 points, and Rudy Gobert had 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Minnesota next plays Sunday in San Antonio.

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