There always seems to be light at the end of the tunnel, but for the Los Angeles Lakers, that light is nowhere within a hundred-mile radius after their disheartening Game 4 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers did everything they could to win, but in the end, fatigue took over.
LeBron James has looked the happiest he has in a long time—at least according to former teammate Carmelo Anthony—since the Lakers acquired Luka Dončić.
“I’ve never seen [LeBron] as happy as he looks playing the game right now. They are a lockdown defensive team right now, with Luka [Dončić]… The roles [are] reversed now. [LeBron James is Anthony Davis] right now, & Luka is him,” Anthony said.
Still, James isn’t thrilled about being down 3-1 in the series, even though he’s come back from that deficit before. On Sunday, however, head coach JJ Redick made a controversial decision: he played the same five guys for the entire second half, which ultimately proved costly. Former Laker Magic Johnson took to social media to weigh in on the decision.
“I dont know if it 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,” Johnson wrote.
Kendrick Perkins didn’t hold back either, placing full blame on the Lakers’ first-year head coach.
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“Rookie Mistake by JJ!!! Bron and Luka were dead tired… you’ve have to find time to get them some rest. Especially a 40 year old Lebron James who’s in his 100th season,” Perkins posted.
Perkins has a point—Dončić looked completely gassed by the end, struggling to get past defenders and often getting stopped by Julius Randle. James was largely irrelevant on the offensive end but made up for it with his defense. Still, the duo of Dončić and James aren’t having a smooth ride in their first playoff run together.
