Lou Williams didn’t hold back while addressing Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick‘s schemes for the second half of Game 4. While reviewing the game on “Run It Back”, Williams shared his thoughts on why Redick’s decision to play his starters for the entirety of the second half was the reason behind the 113-116 loss.
“JJ gambled, and it didn’t go his way. He failed,” said Williams. “We’ve been talking about this all year long. This Lakers team doesn’t have a deep bench, they’re not a deep basketball team. They’re top-heavy.”
Williams was very critical of the Lakers’ bench and its contributions in the playoffs thus far. With poor output from their supporting cast, the Purple and Gold have certainly been heavily reliant on their starters to get the job done.
However, Williams did acknowledge the desperation with which Redick made his decisions. With the loss leading to an unfavorable 3-1 deficit, the Lakers’ head coach threw whatever he could at the Minnesota Timberwolves in an attempt to get results from the only people bringing in results. Unfortunately, the build-up of fatigue is hard to ignore in such circumstances.
“You’ve got a 41-year-old guy out there playing 24-straight minutes, and it showed,” continued Williams. “We’ve never seen him [LeBron] play that way. We’ve never seen him have the results that he had in the fourth quarter, not being able to score, up until now.”
JJ Redick’s decision certainly backfired as the Lakers’ productivity fell off a cliff in the fourth quarter. A 10-point lead evaporated into mist behind a tenacious performance by Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves on both ends of the floor.
The Lakers saw virtually no major contributors to their cause in the fourth quarter other than Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic. The team’s total of 19 points for the quarter was only exacerbated by the zero points contributed by LeBron James.
James addressed these woes during the postgame press conference. Although he underplayed the impact of fatigue, it is clear that the Lakers’ star, as well as others on the roster, were gassed by the end of the game.
Redick had a valid justification for implementing such an intense scheme for Game 4. While it wasn’t a planned approach, he mentioned that the team agreed upon it as it maximized their chances of winning. But unfortunately, the lethargy was instead exploited by Wolves.
With a significant break between Games 4 and 5, it made sense to throw everything they had at Minnesota in hopes of leveling the series. Instead, the Lakers will hope to keep their postseason run alive by securing a win at home on Wednesday at 10:00 pm ET.
