Down 1 game to 2 to the Wolves, the Lakers are already being forced to play their second ‘Must Win’ game in just their fourth playoff game tomorrow. Win and Lakers are back on track. Lose and everybody’s legacy crumbles.

Will Luka Doncic be over his stomach illness and ready to play Sunday? Will LeBron James be able to repeat his terrific performance after playing heavy minutes and carrying a heavy load during Friday night’s tough loss? What changes will the Lakers’ JJ Redick and the Timberwolves Chris Finch have for their opponents on Sunday? Will the Lakers bench Jaxson Hayes and go small ball or will the Wolves bench Gobert in favor of Naz Reid?

If Luka and LeBron can somehow will the Lakers to victory on Sunday, LA would not only tie the series at 2 games apiece but also regain home court advantage and be headed back to LA for 2 of the 3 games left in the series.
A win on Sunday would leave the Lakers perfectly positioned to make a deep playoff run, playing series vs. the Timberwolves, Rockets, Thunder, and likely Celtics while avoiding the Clippers, Nuggets, and Warriors.

But lose on Sunday and suddenly what looked like a possible Cinderella winning-the-big-prize ending for LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Rob Pelinka, JJ Redick, and the Lakers becomes an embarrassing first round exit.
But give credit to Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves. They may be young and lack experience but they’ve also been the ones who’ve come through when the game was on the line, not the Lakers veterans.

Sunday’s game is a ‘Must Win’ game to save the Los Angeles Lakers’ season and the legacies of their superstars. Here are 5 changes JJ Redick can make to help win the Lakers win Game 4 and spark a deep championship run.

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1. PLAY SMALL BALL

The time’s come for JJ Redick to fully embrace small ball and analytics and start Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent in place of Jaxson Hayes and Rui Hachimura to surround Luka, LeBron, and Austin with more shooting.

In 3 playoff games, the Lakers current starting lineup of Doncic, Reaves, Hachimura, James, and Hayes has an offensive rating of 87.8, defensive rating of 136.6, and net rating of -48.8. It’s LA’s 7th worst 5-man lineup.
In contrast, the 5-man lineup of Doncic, Vincent, Reaves, Finney-Smith, and James has an offensive rating of 186.7, a defensive rating of 75.0, and a net rating of +111.7, It’s the Lakers’ top rated 5-man lineup in the playoffs.

The Lakers cannot afford to play from behind in Game 4 like they did in Game 3. Playing from behind just takes too much out of a team. Getting off to a great start in Game 4 will be critical for the Lakers chances to win.

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2. SLOW GAME DOWN

The Lakers cannot beat the Wolves if they continue to making live ball turnovers that lead to easy fast break points. The Lakers 19 turnovers resulted in 28 Timberwolves points and was the main reason for losing.

Instead of leaking out trying to get out and run, the Lakers need to focus on securing the possession ending rebound and taking good care of the ball in transition so as not to cough up those live ball turnovers the are killers.
The Lakers need to understand that low-scoring games are to their benefit as the older and less athletic team whereas high-scoring games are likely more beneficial to the younger and more athletic Timberwolves players.

The Lakers want to run when the opportunity presents itself, which will usually be off a live ball turnover they create. Their first priority should be to slow the game down to avoid needless turnovers and control the pace.

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3. CUT DOWN ON FOULS

The Timberwolves are not only winning the physicality battle but have also prevented the Lakers from getting their usual advantage via made free throws. So far, the Lakers have shot 56 free throws to the Wolves 55.

The Wolves are counting on the refs not being able to call enough fouls to deter them if they are overly physical. The Lakers must be careful to keep their hands in like against SGA to cut down on free throws the Wolves get.
In a critical Game 4, the Lakers need every edge they can get. During the regular season, they received 23.2 FTA per game while their opponents only received 20.5 FTA per game, a differential of 2.7 points per game.

The Lakers want to slow the game down without junking it up and avoiding sending their opponents to the free throw line has be be a major objective during Game 4. The Lakers also need to make their free throws in Game 4.

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4. STOP TARGETING RUDY

Hopefully, Luka will be fully recovered from his illness and ready to go. Rather than pounding the ball looking to make Rudy look foolish, Luka needs to focus on getting into the offense and sharing the ball earlier.

Game 4 is a game where the Lakers will need the best of both of their superstars if they are going to win and regain home court advantage. Playing Luka off the court actually hurts the Lakers in the long run.
We need the Luka and LeBron to each post 30/10/10 games and Austin to bounce back with a 20/5/5 game. The focus by Luka and LeBron has to be to score as well as get their teammates going with easy baskets off assists.

This is the Lakers’ second ‘Must Win’ game out of four games and, win or lose, Game 5 will likely be an even more important ‘Must Win’ game. Lakers don’t have time to be fooling around trying to embarrass Rudy Gobert.

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5. SHOOT MORE THREES

The Lakers need to take and make more threes. At least 50 attempts per game. It’s the only way they can counter their lack of front court positional size compared to the Wolves’ Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid center rotation

The Lakers won the 3-point differential Friday night, making 17 of 40 vs. Wolves 13 of 36 threes. Unfortunately, they used so much energy coming back that they were unable to match the Wolves’ threes down the stretch.
Tomorrow, the Lakers need to surround Luka, LeBron, and Austin with 3-point shooters and focus on slowing the game down, running smart plays, freely sharing the ball, and finding and making wide-open 3-point shots.

The Lakers recorded 17 makes out of 40 takes from deep on Friday night. This Sunday, look for them to make 20 threes out of 50 attempts as they win Game 4 wire-to-wire to setup a return to Los Angeles for a killer Game 5.