In their critical Game 4 loss, the Los Angeles Lakers made an unconventional lineup decision.
After leading throughout much of the first half, the Lakers entered halftime trailing the Minnesota Timberwolves. In what many considered to be a must-win Game 4, the Lakers needed some juice in the second half to try and even the series.
In the first half, Lakers coach JJ Redick used nine players as he looked to find the right lineup to match up against Minnesota. It appears he found the right lineup by halftime, considering the Lakers used only five players throughout the final 24 minutes.
“It wasn’t planned,” Redick said. “But we just made the decision at halftime.”
Redick and the Lakers ran the same five-man crew for the entire second half. LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith were the only Lakers to grace the court after halftime.
While Jaxson Hayes got the start, he was pulled after only a few minutes and never returned. Meanwhile, Gabe Vincent, Jordan Goodwin and Jarred Vanderbilt each got some run in the first half, but clearly didn’t impress enough to break into the rotation after halftime.
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In playing the same lineup for the entire second half, fatigue might have been a factor in the final minutes. James crossed the 46-minute mark on Sunday, while Doncic hit 45 minutes and Hachimura and Finney-Smith each went over 40 minutes.
Those types of minute totals aren’t exactly ideal, but they typically come around in the playoffs. Still, even the teams that love playing their stars for long stretches or even entire halves, it is an extreme rarity to see the same lineup on the floor for an entire half.
While it might have seemed like the Lakers needed those five on the floor the entire half to have a chance, Redick and company have some things to figure out with the rotation ahead of a do-or-die Game 5.
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