It’s the slimmest of silver linings, but the good thing about the Lakers being down 3-1 loss against the Wolves is that there are still plenty of ways that Los Angeles can improve.
One aspect that the Lakers have clearly struggled with in seemingly every game this series has been their late-game execution.
Los Angeles has been outscored by Minnesota in every fourth quarter. In Game 3, the Lakers were tied midway through the quarter before eventually losing and Game 4 was decided by three points. Better execution in either contest could’ve changed the entire outlook of the series for the purple and gold.
Lakers coach JJ Redick discussed the team’s fourth quarter follies after practice on Tuesday.
“I think there’s been a lot of times where we’ve gotten some good looks,” Redick said. “And I think in Game 4 in particular, when we didn’t turn the ball over, we had some good looks. I think three of the first four possessions were sort of what I would call wasted possessions.
“The series requires us to play a certain way. When we play that way, we’ve gotten good results. The process has been good. When we haven’t, we haven’t been good.”
The Lakers began the fourth quarter of Game 4 up by ten, but as Redick mentioned, they struggled to get good looks.
Here is a breakdown of their first four Lakers possessions in the closing quarter:
Austin Reaves made 3-pointer
Austin Reaves missed 3-pointer
Luka Dončić made free throws
Luka missed a floater
Lakers shot clock violation
