Los Angeles Lakers icon Magic Johnson felt that head coach JJ Redick made a mistake in the team’s 116-113 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 4 of their first-round series. Redick had LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Rui Hachimura play the entire second half, and Johnson believes the two superstars should have gotten some rest.
“I don’t know if it [was] 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 had sung Redick’s praises these last few months, but he hasn’t been too happy with the job the rookie head coach has done in this series. Johnson called out Redick and the Lakers after Game 1, and his frustrations appear to be growing slowly, as he was sick to his stomach after this latest loss.
Game 4 was played Sunday afternoon, less than 48 hours after Game 3 took place on Friday night. It might not have been the wisest decision to have James, in particular, play all 24 minutes of the second half. The 21-time All-Star may seem superhuman, but at the end of the day, he is a 40-year-old in his 22nd season.
James made some big defensive plays in the fourth quarter but scored zero points and took just two shots. It was clear there wasn’t enough gas left in the tank.
James finished Game 4 with 27 points (5-9 FG), 12 rebounds, eight assists, three steals, and three blocks. Of those 27 points, 22 came in the first half, and he was basically a non-factor as a scorer in the second.
Doncic, meanwhile, fared slightly better than James from an offensive standpoint in the fourth quarter, but was terrible defensively. The Slovenian had seven points in the fourth and finished the game with 38 points (13-28 FG), one rebound, two assists, one steal, and one block.
Apart from Game 3, Doncic has been great as a scorer in this series, but hasn’t done much else at a high level. The Timberwolves deserve a lot of credit for that, and they now find themselves up 3-1.
JJ Redick On Playing Five Players The Entire Second Half
Redick’s decision to have James, Doncic, Reaves, Finney-Smith, and Hachimura play the entire second half was a big talking point after the game. He revealed in his postgame press conference that they hadn’t planned it beforehand and only made that decision at halftime.
“We asked them at the beginning of the fourth quarter, told them we had two extra timeouts,” Redick said. “[We said], ‘If you need a sub, let us know.’ Those guys gave a lot.”
Redick was also asked if he was now second-guessing the decision to play James the entire second half, but denied that was the case.
“Not on that one,” Redick stated. “I think once you’ve kind of made that decision and they all are in, you just got to trust them.”
It’s easy to say in hindsight, but you wonder if Redick could have gone against the plan and given James a little bit of a breather at the start of the fourth quarter. The Lakers led 94-84 entering the fourth, and resting for a couple of minutes might have helped James deliver in the closing moments.
Redick now faces his first elimination game as head coach when the Lakers take on the Timberwolves in Game 5 at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday at 10 PM ET.
