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Dave McMenamin
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick admitted that fourth-quarter struggles have been “a trend” for his team as it has fallen behind 3-1 against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs.
However, he didn’t put the blame for Sunday’s Game 4 loss — when L.A. scored 19 points on 5-for-18 shooting in the fourth quarter, including 3-for-9 in the last five minutes — on his rotation.
Redick became the first coach to use the same five players for an entire half of a playoff game since at least 1998, as far back as the substitution tracking goes, according to Elias Sports Bureau research.
“Our two best players missed layups at the rim,” Redick said after practice Tuesday. “I don’t think they missed layups because they were tired.”
Redick was referring to LeBron James, who went 0-for-2 in the fourth including the missed layup, and Luka Doncic, who scored seven points on 1-for-6 shooting in the final frame after scoring 31 on 12-for-22 shooting through three quarters.
The Lakers first-year coach changed to a small-ball lineup at halftime of Game 4, inserting forward Dorian Finney-Smith in the place of 7-foot center Jaxson Hayes.
Finney-Smith, along with the Lakers’ usual starters in James, Doncic, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, started the third quarter on a 14-0 run and outscored Minnesota 36-23 in the period.
Doncic said Tuesday that those 12 minutes on the road is the script L.A. has to follow for 48 minutes in Game 5 on Wednesday.
“Just looking at the third quarter, how we played and how we shared the ball, the way we were flying around, it gives me confidence for next game,” Doncic said.
When asked if he would start Game 5 with the same five players he finished Game 4 with, Redick said: “TBD.”
Besides cutting Hayes’ minutes, Redick went away from his go-to reserves in Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt and Jordan Goodwin on Sunday. This is after already tightening his rotation from the regular season to the playoffs by not playing Dalton Knecht in the Minnesota series after the rookie guard averaged 9.1 points in 19.2 minutes per game.
Redick said he addressed his decision with members of the team Monday.
“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.”
Redick is right to point to the fourth quarter as a recurring issue beyond Game 4. L.A. has been outscored 105-69 in the fourth this series, shooting just 25-for-78 overall (32.1%).
All of it has led to a must-win situation Wednesday for the Lakers to extend their season.
“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.”
Doncic added of the spot L.A. finds itself in: “We definitely should treat it like Game 7. We lose and go home. No matter what, we can’t look in the future. So we got to focus on this game and then, from there go on.”
