Options:

Finney-Smith – But he has not been shooting well
Kleber – Size, Rebounding, Shooting?
Knecht – Add some real scoring punch
Vanderbilt – Defense and rebounding?

I would like to see Kleber start and keep DFS coming off the bench. I’d also like to see minutes for Dalton Knecht in this game. We need to blow the Wolves out and set them up for Game 6.

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Finney-Smith, along with the Lakers’ usual starters in James, Doncic, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, started the third quarter on a 14-0 run and outscored Minnesota 36-23 in the period.

Doncic said Tuesday that those 12 minutes on the road is the script L.A. has to follow for 48 minutes in Game 5 on Wednesday.

“Just looking at the third quarter, how we played and how we shared the ball, the way we were flying around, it gives me confidence for next game,” Doncic said.

When asked if he would start Game 5 with the same five players he finished Game 4 with, Redick said: “TBD.”

Besides cutting Hayes’ minutes, Redick went away from his go-to reserves in Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt and Jordan Goodwin on Sunday. This is after already tightening his rotation from the regular season to the playoffs by not playing Dalton Knecht in the Minnesota series after the rookie guard averaged 9.1 points in 19.2 minutes per game.

HERE ARE LAKERS STATS FOR 3RD Q OF GAME 4:This was best quarter by Lakers in this series. It's a great blueprint for what we need to do in the fourth quarters of these playoff games.Win today to stay alive. Main thing is build a big lead and prove you can hold it in the… https://t.co/szTEFI4Eft pic.twitter.com/jdxe7Qtzkh— LakerTom (@LakerTom) April 30, 2025

Lakers’ bold second-half lineup adjustment worked — until it didn’t. Now what? https://t.co/icEw1KZBk5— LakerTom (@LakerTom) April 30, 2025

Ride or die with the Lakers, no matter what! 💜💛 pic.twitter.com/CEFNRra1bl— Ryan Rueda (@iDude14) April 30, 2025

Only 13 teams in NBA history have comeback from down 3-1 to win the series 😭 pic.twitter.com/tDmSbsp7ar— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) April 29, 2025

My confidence level right now:Game 5: 100% Lakers win.Game 6: 65% Lakers win, 35% Lakers lose.Game 7: 100% Lakers win.🤝— Ryan Rueda (@iDude14) April 30, 2025

Game 5- Luka masterclass Game 6- magnet ball by DFS and Gabe Vincent Game 7- anything can happen @Klutch_23 can make 4 3s Let’s roll pic.twitter.com/LCshAWGavp— Kaden (@PlayoffKaden) April 30, 2025

It was a concern before the season and here we are…

Truth be told, we came close to losing Game 2 in the 4th but the difference was that MIN missed the wide open looks they’ve been hitting in the other 3 games. It’s a problem..

FROM THE ABOVE ARTICLE:

The Lakers failed to win either of their two games in Minnesota against the Wolves over the weekend. Now they are heading home down 3-1 and one loss away from their season being over.

Each game is its own singular event, but one thing that’s been clear is that the Wolves have been the sharper team.

While it’s human nature to focus on the final quarter of a close game, especially when your coach makes zero substitutions in a half, during his postgame comments, head coach JJ Redick highlighted the Lakers’ errors in the first half as a factor in their Game 4 loss.

“I thought we played well enough in the first half with our first shot defense, we should have been up double figures,” Redick said. “Instead, we’re down. Some turnovers led to some baskets and then offensive rebounds just killed us in the first half.”

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Zach Lowe thinks Luka Doncic needs to fight more defensively

“He’s just helpless defensively, off the ball too,” Lowe stated bluntly on his podcast about Luka Doncic.

“How about you put up a fight in like game one. And now you’re down 3-1 and you’re probably going home.”

The criticism highlights a weakness that has followed Doncic throughout his career but has been particularly exposed in this playoff series against the athletic Timberwolves.

Despite the Lakers’ defensive needs against Minnesota’s explosive offense, Doncic has struggled to provide resistance on that end.

Where’s the Luka magic as a playmaker

While Doncic poured in 38 points in Game 4, Lowe pointed to another concerning statistic that suggests the superstar isn’t having his typical impact as a playmaker.

“One interesting stat from this series is that Luka only has 20 assists in four games, which for him is not very many,” Lowe explained.

lol. Zach Lowe should look at some of the advanced stats a little more closely before popping off.

No other Laker has contested more shots than Luka (makes sense, they’re making him work on defense).

The Timberwolves are shooting the lowest FG% against Luka.

Those are the numbers, don’t much matter what the opinion’s around them are.