The Los Angeles Lakers are down 3-1 in their playoff series with the Minnesota Timberwolves, but if the team just made a couple more plays in Game 4, the series would be tied 2-2.
Head coach JJ Redick decided to play the lineup of LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith for the entirety of the second half. It’s the only time since the NBA started tracking these stats that the same lineup has played for an entire second half.
Redick is a rookie head coach, and it’s typically not a great sign when you’re making playoff history and losing. However, he’s standing by his decision not to change up the lineup in the second half. Instead, he believes that a big reason why the Lakers lost was because James and Doncic missed layups late in the game.
“No. And you know what, looking back now, what have we scored, 19, 20, 13 in the fourth quarters? It’s a trend, more so than [fatigue]. Our two best players missed layups at the rim. I don’t think they missed layups because they were tired,” Redick said.
James is also 40 years old, so expecting him to make all of his shots after playing for over 20 straight minutes may not be a great strategy. Regardless, according to Redick, he had the support of his players.
“I spoke to everyone yesterday that would’ve potentially played in the second half,” Redick said. “They all understood it. There was no issue with that.”
It’s do-or-die for the Lakers going forward. If they lose in Game 6, the series and season are over. Los Angeles dug this hole, and now they need to dig themselves out.
Redick is well aware of this and needs to see his players leave it all on the court.
“You have to play with a sense of desperation,” Redick said. “You can’t change what’s already happened, and you can’t feel sorry for yourself.”
Expectations weren’t very high for the Lakers heading into this season. A Round 1 playoff exit was likely their ceiling, as it was last season.
However, everything changed when the team traded for Luka Doncic. They went from being a likely play-in team to the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
Hype for the Lakers was the highest it’s been in years this postseason. Many even believed that they’d be the team to come out of the Western Conference.
Losing in the first round to the sixth seed would be a disaster. The Timberwolves have a good team led by a true superstar, but the Lakers should’ve been able to win this series with relative ease.
Instead, they are more likely to get knocked out than they are to come back. This is looking like a brewing disaster for the Lakers. If this ends up being James’ last season, they could be in trouble going forward. This is going to be a pivotal offseason for Los Angeles, especially if they can’t make this series more competitive.
