LeBron and Lakers falter late in loss to Timberwolves, moving to brink of elimination

Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times on Apr 27, 2025

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Value each possession. Move with purpose and speed over every inch of the court. Make the right pass. Hit the big shot. Do the right thing.

Over and over and over.

These are the demands that must be met to win in the playoffs, and when you're on the road in a building pulsating with energy such as the Minnesota Timberwolves' arena, the demands only intensify.

Every turnover can spark a highlight. Every missed rebound can reenergize. Every wrong step is one closer to the end of the season.

So you meet these moments with your best players, counting on them to make the biggest plays in the most stressful moments. And Lakers coach JJ Redick met that moment by going all-in.

But the hand Redick played Sunday, which looked strong as the Lakers led by seven with five minutes left, fell apart when it mattered most, Minnesota stunning the Lakers 116-113 and sending them back to Los Angeles with potentially 48 minutes left in their season.

The Lakers took the court to start the second half with Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith. They played the entire third quarter, and then to start the fourth, all five returned to the court.

Soon, the Lakers' 10-point lead was gone. They are now in a close-to-impossible position trailing the Timberwolves 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.

"This is not done yet," Hachimura said.

But it's close.

For the second game in a row, the Lakers were dominated over the final five minutes. In Game 3, they lost by 12 after being tied with 4 minutes and 37 seconds left to play. Sunday, they were up by seven with five minutes to go.

"I think once you've kind of made that decision, and they all are in, you just gotta trust them," Redick said of the decision not to substitute.

It's impossible to know if the heavy legs mattered when Reaves missed wide-open 3-point attempts. It's impossible to know if fatigue was the difference in clean looks at the rim for Doncic and James that both didn't go down. And no one can know if the stress of having to dance with Anthony Edwards on the perimeter dribble after dribble, fake after fake, caused cracks in the Lakers' defense to be exposed too much.

"I mean, it was tough," Finney-Smith said. "But it's the playoffs. Don't think nobody wanted to come out."

And no one can know for sure if 22 seasons in the NBA prevented the 40-year-old James from connecting with Doncic on an inbound pass in the final 30 seconds, robbing the Lakers of a massive possession down one point.

The inbounds play was triggered by the Lakers calling timeout, the team believing Doncic was clearly tripped as he fell to the court and signaled for the stoppage.

"Well, let's just start with Luka got tripped. I mean, that was a blatant trip," Redick said. "He doesn't just fall on his own. We re-watched it. He gets tripped. So we should have been at the free-throw line."

James appeared to get one key stop late, stripping Edwards with 10 seconds left, but officials ruled James committed a foul and Edwards made a pair of free throws to provide the final margin of victory. Edwards finished with 43 points and nine rebounds.

"That play happens all the time. You know, hand is part of the ball. That's what they said," James said. "I feel like the hand was a part of that ball. I was able to get his hand on top of the ball. The ball stripped out and out on him. Seen that play over and over before, but it is what it is."

The Lakers still made plays down the stretch, Reaves hitting a big 3. James coming up with a pair of massive defensive stops and Finney-Smith hitting a go-ahead 3.

Doncic, who played with a stomach bug in Game 3, looked far more like himself in Game 4. He began by attacking the basket, getting into the paint and finishing around the rim. He stretched the defense back beyond the 3-point line, answering Minnesota jumpers with shots of his own, motioning for the crowd to calm down twice during the second quarter.

James, who scored 38 in Game 3 to keep the Lakers close, was wildly efficient, using quickness and strength to get advantages against Minnesota's excellent defense.

Rui Hachimura, finishing with 23 points while wearing a protective face mask after getting hit in the nose in Game 2, hit big shots and fought on so many key possessions as the Lakers built their lead.

And even after foul trouble limited Reaves to a scoreless first half, he made five 3s and finished with 17 points. However, he missed a 3-pointer at the final buzzer that would have sent the game to overtime.

"If I'm put in that situation again, I'm gonna shoot it again and I have confidence in myself to make it," Reaves said. "I just didn't make that one."

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