There may be something like there are too many LeBrons.
Lakers manager JJ Redick, unable to trust his reserve player in Game 4 of the Best Seven Series against the Timberwolves, chose to play the same five players throughout the second half, rather than one of his bench players, in a 116-113 loss to be defeated 3-1 in the series.
When the Lakers needed the 40-year-old star most, it probably led to a scoreless four for LeBron James.
Lakers legend Magic Johnson let Redick hear it for a decision that might have cost the Lakers the season.
“I don’t know if it’s clever to play LeBron and Luka throughout the second half after just one day rest between games 3 and 4.” Johnson said in X’s post. “When LeBron had to take over in the fourth quarter, he couldn’t. He scored 0 points in fourth place.”
ESPN personality Kendrick Perkins reflected similar feelings in a I’ll post it on x.
“JJ!!! Rookie mistakes by Bron and Luka [Doncic] You’re tired… you have to find time to get them some rest. In particular, LeBron James, 40, is in his 100th season. ”
Playing all 24 minutes of the second half was certainly a strange choice for the same five-man lineup, but it was especially strange for James, who was tasked with being Anthony Edwards’ central defender and being Los Angeles’ main offensive source.
James finished the game with 27 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and three blocks in 46 minutes.
Los Angeles handed him a chance to rest either star at the beginning of the fourth quarter, when he was leading 10 points.
Instead, Redick had the opportunity to build on leads to carry them through the finish line.
That’s pointless as Edwards opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back three-pointers glued to it. This is because the double-digit leads were almost evaporated by the five-minute mark.
After the game, Reddick was asked Whether he can’t rest at the end of the stretch run of the game without giving James a minute or two.
“Not,” Reddick said. He added that he asked these five players if they could go the entire fourth quarter. “If you made that decision, you had to trust them.”
Redick also denounced the referee for a “blatant trip” with less than two minutes left in star Luka Donsic, resulting in significant sales by James in the inbound play that followed.
Los Angeles is competing for a makeshift roster and championship after Anthony Davis was sent to the Mavericks on a Don Chic contract and failed to acquire the center.
They had an agreement to acquire Mark Williams from the Hornets in exchange for Rookie Dalton Knecht and draft picks, but Lakers staff failed Williams’ health checks and Los Angeles lost the size they needed to compete at the highest level.
Johnson, who previously served as Lakers president when James signed with the team in 2018, will undoubtedly blame the Lakers for his lack of depth at the center when he resigned and handed over the job to rival Rob Perinka.
Johnson traded Evikasback for the Clippers for Mike Mascara, who graduated from the league in 2019, just two months before resigning from the Lakers front office in 2019.
Zubac, a defensive player for the year, has blossomed on the star across from town.
Los Angeles prepares to defend their home courts on Wednesday in a mandatory elimination game with the Timberwolves, and licks the wounds as they get home.
