The Los Angeles Lakers went all-in on winning Game 4 in Minnesota against the Timberwolves, but it didn't pay off. Head coach JJ Redick went with the same five players for the entire second half, but the Wolves still stormed back and got a 116-113 win to take a 3-1 lead in the series.

The Lakers have been playing a majority of the crucial minutes of the series with their small-ball lineup of Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith, but they took it to a new level in Game 4. Despite that, Redick wouldn't commit to starting that group from the opening tip in Game 5 back in Los Angeles, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

“TBD,” Redick said on if that would be the starting five, per McMenamin.

While that five has played most of the minutes for the Lakers in this series, Finney-Smith has been coming off the bench while Jaxson Hayes starts the game. Despite that, Hayes has not played more than nine minutes in a game in this series.

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The Lakers have also gotten some minutes from Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt and Jordan Goodwin in this series, but Redick has clearly decided that playing his smaller group is their best, and maybe only, chance of advancing.

One of the big criticisms of playing the whole lineup for 24 straight minutes in Game 4 was the potential fatigue it was causing for the players in the closing minutes, particularly 40-year-old LeBron James. The Lakers were the first team since tracking started in 1997 to not make a single substitution in the second half of a playoff game, so the concern was plausible. However, Redick downplayed that as well, according to McMenamin.

“No. And you know what? What did we score, 19, 20 and 13 in the fourth quarter (of losses this series)? It’s a trend, more so than that,” Redick said. “Our two best players missed layups at the rim.”

The Lakers are now playing with their backs against the wall down 3-1 and must come up with three wins in a row against a very good Timberwolves squad in order to stay alive. That will be difficult to do if Redick continues to roll that small-ball lineup out there, but it may be the only chance they have to overcome Anthony Edwards and the Wolves.