Last season, the Minnesota Timberwolves heard how they had no chance of beating the Phoenix Suns in their first-round series.

Minnesota swept the Suns and then sent the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets home before it eventually lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference finals.

Then, as this season’s first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers approached, similar comments were circulating. Few people were giving the Timberwolves a chance to take down LeBron James, Luka Doncic and friends.

Well, Minnesota still showed up for Game 1 in Los Angeles — but the Lakers sure didn’t.

Timberwolves 117, Lakers 95.

Minnesota outscored Los Angeles by 29 points over the final three quarters. The Timberwolves were highly physical, and the Lakers didn’t respond.

The game was so one-sided that Lakers legend Magic Johnson trashed the team on social media and also bashed coach JJ Redick for his lack of adjustments.

When a homer like the Magic Man rips the team, you know it was one ugly performance.

Minnesota wrestled homecourt advantage away by holding the Lakers to 39.8% shooting. Jaden McDaniels had 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting in addition to his usual suffocating defense.

Naz Reid drilled six 3-pointers while scoring 23 points off the bench. Los Angeles’ bench combined for just 13 total points.

Study the contest deeper, and you know this is must-win territory Tuesday night for the Lakers.

If Los Angeles falls behind 0-2, it will be a tough road — as Anthony Edwards will go off for 35 or 40 points a few times before this series concludes.

Even though perception favors the Lakers, Minnesota was one of the hottest teams in the NBA down the stretch.

The Timberwolves were just three games over .500 when March began before a torrid 17-4 finishing kick. Minnesota finished with 49 victories, just one fewer than the Lakers.

Edwards delivered his usual solid performances and Rudy Gobert stepped up his defense and rebounding. Offseason acquisition Julius Randle looked more comfortable, while guys like Reid and Donte DiVincenzo delivered off the bench.

McDaniels is one of the league’s top defensive players, and veteran Mike Conley, a former stalwart, has fully accepted a complementary role where his intelligence is much more important to the operation than his scoring ability.

Throw in Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Minnesota is eight-deep without much drop-off. You don’t need a bigger rotation in the postseason, and the Timberwolves are ready to go to war with this group.

Of course, preparing for Game 2 is paramount. The Lakers need that game before the series moves to Minneapolis.

“We know it’s going to be a long series,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “We’re not under any assumption that it’s going to be this type of game in Game 2. It’ll be a completely different game.”

Minnesota was 21 of 42 from 3-point range, with many of the shots being of the wide-open variety.

Los Angeles received 37 points from Doncic and 58 from the rest of the team. Of course, Doncic had troubles on defense in Game 1, so surely Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison was happy to see that unfold after repeatedly making thinly veiled comments about “defense wins championships” as his justification for unloading Doncic.

James wasn’t all that spry in Game 1, scoring 19 points with only three assists. Los Angeles needs a big-time effort from LBJ if it is going to even the series Tuesday.

The Lakers have Austin Reaves to go along with James and Doncic, but their frontcourt is thin since the trade of Anthony Davis to Dallas. There aren’t enough horses up front to make a legitimate championship run, so their three main scorers need to click every night.

It also allows Gobert to cheat on defense without fear of it leading to an easy Los Angeles basket.

When you break down the rosters, this is an even series — despite all the “Lakers have the edge” chatter.

The teams split the four-game regular-season series, with the home team winning each time.

The Timberwolves broke through in Game 1, and another win Tuesday would set the stage for another first-round series win.

Perhaps the Lakers are the team in trouble.