The Lakers lost another heartbreaker against the Wolves, dropping Game 4 in Minnesota 116-113 on Sunday.
With the result being such a narrow margin of victory and this being the playoffs, everything is magnified, including the officiating.
The NBA’s Last 2 Minute Report revealed that the officials missed a foul call in the final minute when Jaden McDaniels tripped Luka Dončić.
Last Two Minute Report from Lakers-Wolves Game 4 holds up JJ Redick’s contention that Luka Doncic was tripped and should have been awarded free throws. It does not support LeBron James’ stance that the hand was part of the ball on the out of bounds call on Anthony Edwards pic.twitter.com/cLvJaKnHGb
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 28, 2025
Luka should’ve been heading to the line with a chance to tie with 33 seconds left, but instead he had to burn a timeout to save a possession for Los Angeles.
After the loss, JJ Redick was immediately on the right side of history, speaking out about the missed call.
“Luka got tripped,” Redick said. “I mean, that was a blatant trip. He doesn’t just fall on his own. We watched it, he gets tripped. So, we should have been at the free throw line. It’s not an excuse for why we lost, but he got fouled and we had a chance to go up.”
This isn’t the first time the NBA has gotten it wrong late in a game and it went against the Lakers.
Earlier this season, the league admitted to wrongfully ejecting Luka during the fourth quarter of an eventual loss to the Thunder. Before that, the NBA blew a call that could’ve cost the Lakers in their narrow win against the Pacers back in March.
After this missed call, there was still more basketball to play between the Lakers and Wolves.
LeBron James got called for a foul on a play on the ball against Anthony Edwards with 9.5 seconds left in the game.
It was initially ruled as a non-foul and Lakers ball, but after review, it was deemed a foul on LeBron. Edwards went to the line and knocked down a pair of free throws, making it a three-point lead.
After further review, LeBron James was called for a CRUCIAL foul on Anthony Edwards
Ant-Man would make both free throws to go up 3 points and the Wolves would take a WILD Game 4
Good call or bad call? pic.twitter.com/qLrQW6L73i
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 27, 2025
The NBA’s Last 2 Minute Report confirmed that the call was correct, but it’s unlikely that LeBron agrees.
“That play happens all the time,” James said. “The hand is part of the ball, that’s what they say. I feel like the hand was a part of that ball. I was able to get his hand on top of the ball, the ball stripped down and out on him. So, I’ve seen that play over and over before, but it is what it is.”
Regardless of whatever errors happened in Game 4, the fact is the Lakers lost and they are down 3-1 against the Wolves heading back to Los Angeles.
Hopefully, no other major mistakes occur officiating-wise as the Lakers look to save their season by winning Game 5 on Wednesday.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
