In the blink of an eye, the Los Angeles Lakers 2024-25 season is officially over as they were eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games in the first round.
The Lakers lost Game 5, 103-96, but unlike the other games, the team came out shockingly flat in the first quarter. There were plenty of instances where it felt like Los Angeles had already accepted defeat, but they showed signs of life in the second quarter and kept it close from there.
Minnesota’s defense was as stifling as usual, but the purple and gold did well to fight back and put themselves in position to win the game. However, the Lakers, like in other games in the series, started to fall apart in the closing minutes and that allowed the Timberwolves to close things out.
Following the team’s elimination, head coach JJ Redick says L.A. got the looks they wanted but they just didn’t go down when discussing the fourth-quarter struggles where L.A. again scored less than 20 points.
“We executed great in the fourth quarter,” Redick said. “Missed shots at the rim, missed a bunch of threes, shot 12-for-52 for the series in the fourth quarter from three. On top of that, you lose two games in Minnesota – minus 12 on scoring opportunities and minus 13, and then you lose by 20 tonight. Just too many turnovers, too many offensive rebounds, and then you know. I think given the struggles scoring the ball, particularly early in the series, there is a tradeoff. There is always a tradeoff.
Redick went with a smaller starting lineup as he swapped Jaxson Hayes for Dorian Finney-Smith, but he defended his decision and didn’t think it affected the team’s overall offensive production.
“You can say ‘Oh, play a center.’ We couldn’t score, so there’s a tradeoff to everything with this. But you know, we obviously put ourselves in a position to be in the game three times in the fourth quarter and just came up short every time,” he said. “But you know again, the offensive part of it tonight in particular – we missed wide open threes, we missed a couple shots at the rim, we got good looks.”
With the Lakers only behind a couple of possessions, Luka Doncic missed a layup that led to an Anthony Edwards basket on the other end. Later on when they were down six, Austin Reaves also missed a shot at the rim and that felt like one of the final nails in the coffin.
Redick and his staff simply didn’t have many answers for a Minnesota defense that was tough, physical and swarming on every possession. The upcoming offseason is going to be an important one for the franchise, but for now all they can do is tip their cap to a hungry Timberwolves team.
JJ Redick doesn’t think fatigue led to Lakers’ fourth-quarter struggles against Timberwolves
JJ Redick shortened his rotation toward the end of the series as he felt most confident in his small-ball lineups. Playing that many minutes does take a toll on players, though Redick doesn’t believe fatigue was an issue when the Lakers struggled to score in the fourth quarter.
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