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The Los Angeles Lakers are in a tough situation as they are now just a loss away in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs from getting eliminated by Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
On Sunday night, the Lakers appeared to be in control of Game 4 in the Twin Cities and looked as though they were on their way to tying the series at two wins apiece as Los Angeles entered the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead.
However, the Timberwolves chipped away at the lead and took the lead after three consecutive made free throws by Edwards with under four minutes left in regulation.
The Lakers would still regain the lead off a Dorian Finney-Smith 3-pointer with a little over a minute remaining in the fourth quarter before Edwards and Jaden McDaniels scored the final five points of the contest to give the Timberwolves the 116-113 victory — and the 3-1 series lead.
The Lakers' crushing loss to Minnesota in Game 4 understandably sparked strong reactions from their fans and supporters, including franchise legend Magic Johnson, who questioned the decisions made in the contest by Los Angeles head coach JJ Redick. Johnson appeared to partly blame LA's loss on the Lakers' lack of attempts from inside the arc.
“What it came down to is this – the Lakers didn’t get enough 2-point shots in this game,” Johnson said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Los Angeles shot better overall from the field than the Timberwolves, as the Lakers had a 45 percent shooting percentage to just 42.2 percent by Minnesota. But in the fourth quarter, the Lakers took just 33.3 percent of their shots from 2-point range.
Johnson also didn't like the Lakers giving LeBron James and Luka Doncic heavy minutes on short rest: “I don't know if it's 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.”
The 40-year-old James scored 27 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field and 15-for-18 from the foul line after logging 46 minutes of action in Game 4. Doncic, on the other hand, had 38 points on 13-for-28 shooting.
“I’m just sick to my stomach that the Lakers lost this game after being in control most of the 2nd half,” added Magic, who will now have to hope that Los Angeles wins Game 5 on Wednesday back in Tinseltown to keep the team's season alive for at least one more contest.
