Los Angeles Lakers veteran LeBron James rued missing point-blank shots after suffering a 116-113 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. With this win, the Wolves have taken a 3-1 lead in the series.
The Lakers had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter but Anthony Edwards was able to turn a corner. Edwards scored a total of 43, scoring 16 points in the final frame as the Wolves outscored the Lakers by 32-19 in the last 12 minutes.
The Lakers shot just 5-for-18 in the fourth — including 3-for-9 in the final five minutes.
“We got some really good looks,” said James, who had another strong performance with 27 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. “Luka [Doncic] missed a point-blank layup to put us up seven. I missed a point-blank layup to put us up four. We had a couple opportunities. I don’t think fatigue had anything to do with that. Just missing some point-blank shots, you know? We were getting into what we wanted to get into. We just weren’t able to convert.”
Lakers head coach JJ Redick said it was not a planned thing to use only five players in the second half.
“I asked them at the beginning of the fourth quarter [how they were doing] and told them we had two extra timeouts,” Redick said. “‘If you need a sub, let us know.’ Those guys gave a lot.”
Finney-Smith, who finished with 6 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists in 41 minutes, concurred with the coach’s call.
“It’s the playoffs,” he said. “I don’t think anybody wanted to come out the game anyway.”
Luka Doncic top-scored for the Lakers with 38 points but could only manage seven points in the last quarter, whereas James was scoreless in the final frame.
“Fatigue shouldn’t play any role in this,” Doncic said. “I played a lot of minutes, but that shouldn’t play a role. I think they just executed better on the offensive end during the last minutes.”
The fifth game of the series will be played on Wednesday.
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