MINNEAPOLIS — Staring at the possibility of a daunting 3-1 series deficit, Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick made a bold rotation adjustment at halftime.
Instead of starting center Jaxson Hayes at the beginning of the third quarter, Redick replaced him with Dorian Finney-Smith to deploy the team’s best lineup — the “Lasers lineup,” as Redick calls it — at the beginning of the half. The decision was made quickly — Finney-Smith later said he was given two minutes’ notice that he was starting the third
Redick had cautioned against overreacting earlier in the series. But the Lakers, enjoying a combined 43 points from Luka Dončić and LeBron James in the first half, somehow found themselves down by three points, 61-58, at intermission.
They felt they had outplayed the Timberwolves up to that point. Yet the series was slipping away. They needed to do something.
Redick believed it was time to test a change he had been considering for a couple of games. So he went for it. And it worked. Until it didn’t.
And now, following a crushing 116-113 Game 4 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Lakers find themselves down 3-1 and one loss away from an early playoff exit and an offseason full of questions.
After Redick’s adjustment, the Lakers opened the third quarter with a 14-0 run to regain control of the game. They outscored Minnesota 36-23 — the most points the Lakers have scored in a quarter this series — in the frame to enter the fourth quarter up by 10 points, 94-84.
