The Los Angeles Lakers lost a crucial Game 4 battle against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday afternoon, 116-113, to fall down 3-1 in the first-round playoff series. Head coach JJ Redick was at the center of conversations surrounding the defeat after his bold decision to play the same five players for the entirety of the second half.
LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Dorian Finney-Smith, Austin Reaves, and Rui Hachimura didn't sit for even a second from the start of the third quarter on. It was a move never before seen in the modern NBA, with Redick becoming the first coach to play the same lineup for an entire half in the play-by-play era. It earned Redick plenty of criticism, even from Magic Johnson, as many openly wondered if the Lakers were too tired to close out a must-win game in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
On Tuesday, Redick pushed back strongly against that narrative.
"No," Redick said via ESPN's Dave McMenamin, when asked by reporters if he saw any fatigue while reviewing film from Game 4. "And you know what? What did we score, 19, 20 and 13 in the fourth quarter (of losses this series)? It’s a trend, more so than that. Our two best players missed layups at the rim."
James and Doncic did indeed miss a few bunnies at big moments in the last quarter of the loss. James himself pointed that out in his postgame press conference, bluntly stating he didn't think fatigue had anything to do with the loss and he was just missing "point-blanks shots."
At the end of the day, the NBA is a make-or-miss league, regardless of circumstance. That's what Redick and James clearly believe. Wednesday will bring an opportunity to prove as much with the Lakers back in Los Angeles to host the T-Wolves for Game 5.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as JJ Redick Offers Simple Rebuttal to Narrative About Why Lakers Lost Game 4.
