The Los Angeles Lakers will look to escape Minnesota on Sunday with the series tied at 2-2. It is not a stretch to call Game 4 a must-win for the Lakers, and they will need to play with a sense of urgency to tie things up.
Much talk has been about the starting lineup ahead of Game 4; however, Lakers head coach JJ Redick will stick with the same old lineup..
Redick will start with the same five on Sunday: Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, and Jaxson Hayes.
Hayes will start at the five spot in this must-win Game 4 for L.A.
The 24-year-old has not played much this series, and much of it involves getting into early foul trouble. Through three games in this series, Hayes has played a total of 26 minutes.
Hayes is not making his mark in the series, averaging 1.7 points per game, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.3 blocks while shooting 33.3 percent from the field in 8.7 minutes of action.
Overall, Hayes has five points in the series and six personal fouls. Five of those fouls came in Game 2. In Game 3, Hayes did not commit a foul.
The former lottery pick in the 2019 NBA Draft slowly dissipated from the rotation as the season was winding down. With Hayes being the lone center in the rotation, the Lakers had to go small.
What seemed to be an advantage for Los Angeles at the start of the series, the “small-ball” Lakers have been getting pounded on the glass by the much bigger and more physical Timberwolves team.
The Lakers’ lack of size has been a problem for most of the series, and it appears that Redick is steering into the skid regarding his small-ball lineup.
