In a controversial move, Los Angeles Lakers head coach J.J. Redick rolled with the same five-man unit for the entirety of the second half of the team’s Game 4 bout against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves along with forwards Dorian Finney-Smith, Rui Hachimura and LeBron James played the last 24 minutes of the contest without respite.
That decision from Redick may have come back to bite the Lakers in crunch time, as Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards said after the game that Los Angeles was “gassed going down the stretch” on Sunday.
“I felt like they were gassed going down the stretch,” Edwards said. “So just trying to keep my foot on the pedal and keep going.”
There is seemingly at least some truth to Edwards’ claim, as Doncic and James both had big scoring games but didn’t contribute all that much for Los Angeles in the final frame. They combined for just seven points on 1-of-8 shooting from the field in the fourth quarter, and James misfired on both of his shot attempts from the floor.
Nobody had a great fourth quarter for the Lakers on the offensive side of the ball, as the team scored just 19 points across the final 12 minutes of action.
Los Angeles’ season is now hanging by a mere thread following the team’s three-point loss in Game 4, as the Lakers are in a 3-1 deficit in the best-of-seven series. Only 13 teams in NBA playoff history have rallied back from such a hole to win the series, and the last team to do it was the Denver Nuggets in 2020. They beat the Los Angeles Clippers in the second round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs after losing three of the first four games of the series.
While the odds are against the Lakers to advance past the first round, the team is still kicking and has a golden opportunity to pick up its second win of the series on Wednesday. That contest will be held at Crypto.com Arena, where the Lakers have been a tough out all season. The Lakers had one of the best home records in the league during the regular season, as they ended up winning all but 10 of their 41 home contests.
