Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick made the decision to play just five players in the entire second half of Game 4 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith were the only Lakers to see the court in the final 24 minutes as Redick did everything possible to try and leave Minnesota with a victory.
The Lakers held the lead for most of the night, but in the end just weren’t able to close it out and dropped a heartbreaking three-point game to now find themselves down 3-1 in the series. With the Lakers’ struggles down the stretch, there were some who questioned whether fatigue played a factor, but Doncic wasn’t having any of that talk.
When asked if the fourth quarter struggles were due to the fatigue of playing the whole second half, Doncic shut that down, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“This is the playoffs. Fatigue shouldn’t play any role in this. Played a lot of minutes, but it shouldn’t play a role. I think they just executed better on the defensive end during the last minutes.”
When it’s the postseason, all excuses go out the window, it is simply a matter of win or go home. Luka and the rest of the Lakers are willing to do whatever is necessary to come out on top and the Lakers superstar is certainly no stranger to playing big minutes in the playoffs as he averaged 41 minutes a night during his run to the NBA Finals last year with the Dallas Mavericks.
Some would argue that the Timberwolves’ superior execution was a matter of them being fresher, but Doncic simply isn’t willing to use that excuse. The important thing now is for the Lakers to turn the page and be ready to go for Game 5.
Doncic has been outstanding in this series for the Lakers, with his lone bad night coming as he was dealing with an illness in Game 3. There is no doubt he will be ready to go on Game 5 and put everything towards ensuring the Lakers extend this series another game.
Luka Doncic says Lakers must believe to come back from 3-1 deficit
In terms of the Lakers’ ability to complete the improbable comeback against the Timberwolves, Luka Doncic has full belief in his team’s ability to do that.
Doncic called it a fun challenge while insisting that nothing is lost until the Lakers lose four games and must continue to still believe.
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