The Minnesota Timberwolves have taken a 3-1 lead in their first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers with a 116-113 win at the Target Center on Sunday. The Timberwolves were down by 10 points entering the fourth quarter, but Anthony Edwards stated in his press conference that he felt the game was there for the taking.
“I feel like we took their best punches throughout the game, to start the third and then to end the third,” Edwards said. “I felt like they was gassed going down the stretch, so just trying to keep my foot on the pedal and keep going.”
Edwards certainly didn’t take his foot off the pedal. The 23-year-old had 43 points (12-23 FG), nine rebounds, six assists, and one block in Game 4. Of those 43 points, 16 came in the fourth quarter, as he nearly matched the Lakers’ tally by himself.
The Lakers were outscored 32-19 in that fourth quarter. They went a woeful 5-18 (27.8%) from the field as the offense grinded to a halt. Did fatigue play a part? It’s hard to argue that it didn’t, considering the bold call that Lakers head coach JJ Redick made.
Redick decided to play LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Rui Hachimura for the entire second half. That lineup helped the Lakers win the third quarter 36-23 and seemingly take control of the game, but they were running on fumes afterward.
According to Keerthika Uthayakumar, it was the first time in the play-by-play era that five players played an entire half in the playoffs. There’s a reason why no other head coach, not even Tom Thibodeau, made that decision in this era, as the players are obviously going to run out of gas as time progresses.
To make matters worse, Game 4 tipped off less than 48 hours after Game 3, which was played on Friday night. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that those players were tired down the stretch. Lakers icon Magic Johnson criticized Redick for this decision, but the head coach doesn’t regret it.
