The Lakers blew a ten-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game 4 as their offense again failed them against the Wolves.
Leading by double digits heading into the fourth, the Lakers appeared on their way to evening the series. But a Minnesota rally led by Anthony Edwards secured the Wolves a 116-113 victory and a commanding 3-1 series lead.
LA lost the final quarter by 13, exposing the same late offensive execution struggles that have plagued them throughout this season and series. Los Angeles shot just 5-18 (27.8%) from the field, with their big three of LeBron James, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves combining to shoot 3-15 for 13 points.
On the other hand, the Wolves received significant production from Edwards and Naz Ried. They combined for 24 points in the final frame, answering the bell anytime the Lakers looked to create any separation.
The Lakers offense stagnated again in Game 4 as LA milked the clock to maintain its lead. Following the benching of Jaxson Hayes to begin the third, head coach J.J. Redick opted to play all five of his death lineup for the entire second half, a decision that had a big impact late.
The ball movement, or lack thereof, has plagued the offense all series. The Lakers focused on mismatch-hunting with James, Dončić, or Reaves going against a physical, pressuring defense. Watch in the clip below as LA looks to isolate LeBron at the top of the key.
Notice that the initial attack doesn’t start until nine seconds on the shot clock. LeBron drives and kicks out to Dončić with the shot clock expiring before he can release the ball. Dončić was just 1-6 in the fourth, unable to get a clean look down the stretch.
In this clip, Reaves looks to target Mike Conley, a matchup that has proven fruitful for LA in the series. Once again, watch as the attack doesn’t start until 14 seconds are left on the clock.
With the clock running low, Jaden McDaniels inches toward Reaves. The ball swings over, and Dončić launches a long-contested 3-pointer. Edwards would secure the rebound and sink a 3-pointer at the other end, narrowing the lead to four.
There was no ball movement, one screen, and the ball never moved inside the 3-point line. Minnesota was able to stay out of the blender, as Redick says
Even the attempts to hunt Rudy Gobert were in vain. LA took too long to initiate the action, allowing the stingy Wolves defense to settle in.
As they have done throughout the series, Minnesota put Gobert on Rui Hachimura in the corner. A chess match from Wolves head coach Chris Finch forced the Lakers to involve Hachimura, a less dynamic screener, to attack Gobert.
Watch as Edwards chases over the screen and gets the deflection as Gobert recovers.
The ball moves over to Reaves, who is forced to take a difficult leaning 3-pointer, once again with a late shot clock.
The Lakers scored just 19 points in the fourth quarter after blitzing the Wolves with 36 in the third.
“I thought we did a lot of good in that third quarter,” Reaves said. “As you can tell, we outscored them by 13. We just continued to get good looks. We got to watch the film and see how we can do that almost every possession. You have to have a good look every possession.
“Even in that fourth quarter, we had some good looks that we didn’t convert. I think I had two threes basically wide open that I didn’t make. I think Bron had a layup, Luka had a layup. You just got to continue to fight and believe in yourself.”
Whether it was tired legs from playing the entire half or low execution, the Lakers continued to settle on offense in the final possessions as Minnesota inched closer. The Wolves benched Gobert down the stretch again, playing spacing shooter Reid at center to close.
With three minutes remaining, watch as they concede the switch to Dončić and he fires up a contested step-back 3-pointer with eight on the shot clock.
The one-on-one style has hit a ceiling in every game, as they’ve now been outscored 105-69 in total in the fourth quarter of this series.
Per the NBA’s tracking data, the combination of Reaves, Dončić, and LeBron now has an offensive rating of 81.8 in the fourth quarter of the playoffs. The success they were finding at the end of the regular season has completely disappeared during the postseason.
Whether that’s a result of a lack of execution or, on Sunday at least, dead legs, the Lakers have until Wednesday to solve this issue and keep their season alive.
You can follow Raj on Twitter at @RajChipalu.