Game 5 will be judgment day in a way for the Los Angeles Lakers. They trail the Minnesota Timberwolves three games to one in their first-round playoff series, and they blew two golden opportunities to, at the very least, make this series competitive by falling apart in the final minutes of Game 3 and Game 4.
That means their season could come to an abrupt and stunning end in Game 5 on Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena. Few likely imagined that type of outcome as recently as a couple of weeks ago when many felt the Lakers were legitimate championship contenders.
Head coach JJ Redick said that his team is “on edge” as Game 5 approaches.
JJ Redick on LA trailing 3-1 heading into Wednesday’s Game 5:
“I would describe us as ‘on edge’, as we should be. We have to play with a sense of desperation.”
Redick made a very questionable decision in Game 4 that may have been a big reason his team lost by a final score of 116-113. He played just five men in the second half, and after those five men outscored Minnesota 36-23 in the third quarter, they were outscored 31-19 and shot just 27.8% from the field in the fourth quarter.
It isn’t exactly time for the Lakers to yell “1-2-3-Cancun.” They need to not only fight like hell but play smarter and with more poise, especially in crunch time, than they have for most of this series. Otherwise, it will be time for them to put on their swim trunks and fly out to the tropics.
