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Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson criticized the team’s fourth-quarter game plan as they fell behind 3-1 in their opening round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Lakers coach J.J. Redick was seemingly inspired by the 14-0 run to start the third quarter and kept the lineup – LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith – on the floor for the rest of the game.
Fatigue seemed to set in late in the game. Doncic was getting over a stomach ailment as he and James played 46 minutes each. James was held scoreless in the fourth quarter. The Lakers failed to keep the T’Wolves at bay in the fourth quarter despite having a lead.
Minnesota won the game, 116-113. They’ve outscored the Lakers 105-69 in the fourth quarter over the course of the series.
Johnson expressed his dismay on X.
“I don’t know if it smart to play LeBron and Luka the entire second half after only having one day of rest between Games 3 and 4. When we needed LeBron to take over in the fourth quarter he couldn’t – he scored 0 points in the fourth,” Johnson wrote.
“I’m just sick to my stomach that the Lakers lost this game after being in control most of the 2nd half.”
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Redick explained his lineup decision in the second wasn’t something that was planned.
“I asked them at the beginning of the fourth quarter [how they were doing] and told them we had two extra timeouts,” Redick said, via ESPN. “’If you need a sub, let us know.’ Those guys gave a lot.”
Doncic said fatigue shouldn’t have been a factor at this juncture of the season.
“Fatigue shouldn’t play any role in this,” Doncic added. “I played a lot of minutes, but that shouldn’t play a role. I think they just executed better on the offensive end during the last minutes.”
Game 5 is set for Wednesday back in Los Angeles.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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