Today in Sports
  • Home
  • Featured News
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • More
    • Rugby
    • Golf
    • Boxing
    • Soccer
    • NBA
    • Racing
    • Cricket
  • DMCA
  • Disclaimer
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Featured News
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • More
    • Rugby
    • Golf
    • Boxing
    • Soccer
    • NBA
    • Racing
    • Cricket
No Result
View All Result
Today in Sports
No Result
View All Result

Hernández: With their season in danger of ending, Lakers are running out of answers

April 28, 2025
in NBA
0
Home NBA
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


You might also like

Mavericks To Work Out Only Cooper Flagg For First Overall Pick

12 top Celtics draft prospects, from Ryan Kalkbrenner to Hunter Sallis

Suns Expected To Offer Devin Booker $150M Extension Over 2 Years – Basketball Insiders

As the Lakers departed from the court at Target Center with their heads down, white towels were being whirled everywhere around them.

The crowd was doing more than celebrating the home team’s 116-113 victory on Sunday afternoon. The 19,289 fans here could see what was happening. They could feel what was happening.

Advertisement

Four games into this first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Lakers haven’t figured out what to do.

Read more: LeBron and Lakers falter late in loss to Minnesota, moving to brink of elimination

They haven’t figured out how to stop Anthony Edwards. They haven’t figured out how to stop the Timberwolves from overwhelming them in the paint. They haven’t figured out how to stop their opponents from grabbing offensive rebound after offensive rebound.

Now, they’re down three games to one, and another defeat will finish their season.

Two days after stomach problems reduced him to practically being an on-court spectator, Luka Doncic returned to score 38 points.

Advertisement

That didn’t matter.

LeBron James contributed in every dimension of the game, finishing with 27 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, three steals and three blocks.

That didn’t matter either.

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle celebrates during the fourth quarter of a 116-113 win over the Lakers in Game 4 of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

At this stage of the season, against this particular opponent, their shortcomings are outweighing the strengths, and coach JJ Redick doesn’t sound as if he has any answers.

“Certainly played well enough to win,” Redick said. “Gave the effort to win.”

Redick complained about a couple of late-game calls,and he was justified in doing so, but a referee’s whistle won’t be what saves the season.

The Timberwolves present matchup problems for the Lakers, and the Lakers might not have the necessary personnel to reverse their deficit.

Advertisement

As well as Doncic and James played, Edwards outshined them both, scoring a game-high 43 points while also contributing nine rebounds and six assists.

The Lakers’ desperation was perhaps best represented by Redick’s second-half substitutions: There weren’t any.

“We just made a decision at halftime,” Redick said.

Lakers forward LeBron James, top, fouls Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards.

Lakers forward LeBron James, top, fouls Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards in final seconds of Game 4 on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The team’s third-quarter starters — Doncic, James, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith — played the entire second half.

“Those guys,” Redick said, “gave a lot.”

The Lakers scored a series-high 36 points in the third quarter to take a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter but predictably ran out of gas against a Timberwolves team with a deeper roster.

Advertisement

“This is the playoffs,” Doncic said. “Fatigue shouldn’t play a role.”

That doesn’t mean it won’t.

“It was tough,” Finney-Smith acknowledged.

The team’s lack of a center came into even sharper focus, as Jaxson Hayes never reentered the game after picking up his second foul just four minutes into the game.

If the Lakers are to come back from this three-games-to-one deficit, it will start with Doncic, who was said by Redick to be throwing up “all afternoon” leading up to their Game 3 defeat.

Doncic said he spent the day between Games 3 and 4, “mostly laying down.”

“Today,” Doncic said, “I felt better.”

And the Lakers started better.

Advertisement

They did in the opening quarter what Redick implored them to do, which was to take better care of the basketball.

They committed only one turnover in the first 12 minutes of the game, after which they were ahead, 32-28.

They weren’t as careful in the second quarter, however.

The Lakers turned over the ball four times in the opening five minutes of the quarter. Their lead quickly vanished, and they went into halftime with a 61-58 deficit.

The Lakers deserved to be down by more, but James and Doncic kept them in the game by themselves, the two stars carrying nearly the entire offensive load as Reaves’ minutes were limited by early foul trouble.

Advertisement

James and Doncic scored 22 and 21 points in the first half, respectively. The last time the Lakers had multiple players score 20 or more points in a single half of a postseason game was on May 31, 2002 against the Sacramento Kings.

The two players who did it then: Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.

Only three Lakers other than James and Doncic scored in the first half: Hachimura, Finney-Smith and Hayes.

The Lakers opened the second half with a 14-0 run, with a three-pointer by Reaves extending their lead to 72-61. They were ahead by as many as 12 points, only for the Timberwolves to do against them what they have done the entire series.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter on all things Lakers.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.



Source link

Tags: answersAnthony EdwardsAustin ReavesdangerDorian Finney-SmithhernandezJaxson HayesJJ RedickJulius RandleKobe BryantLakersLeBron JamesLos Angeles TimesLuka DoncicMinnesotaRobert GauthierRudy GobertRui HachimurarunningSacramento KingsSeasonTimberwolves
Share30Tweet19

Recommended For You

Mavericks To Work Out Only Cooper Flagg For First Overall Pick

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 8, 2025
0
Mavericks To Work Out Only Cooper Flagg For First Overall Pick

The Dallas Mavericks have made no secret of their plans in the 2025 NBA Draft since winning the draft lottery. Dallas made it known they weren't interested in...

Read more

12 top Celtics draft prospects, from Ryan Kalkbrenner to Hunter Sallis

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 8, 2025
0
12 top Celtics draft prospects, from Ryan Kalkbrenner to Hunter Sallis

The Celtics are entering an offseason of uncertainty. As it currently stands, the 2024 NBA champions have the No. 28 and No. 32 picks in the upcoming NBA...

Read more

Suns Expected To Offer Devin Booker $150M Extension Over 2 Years – Basketball Insiders

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 8, 2025
0
Suns Expected To Offer Devin Booker 0M Extension Over 2 Years – Basketball Insiders

The Phoenix Suns are expected to offer Devin Booker a two-year extension worth $150M in about a month. Booker becomes extension eligible on July 6th and is widely...

Read more

NBA at ‘least a couple years away from launching’ NBA Europe league, Adam Silver says

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 8, 2025
0
NBA at ‘least a couple years away from launching’ NBA Europe league, Adam Silver says

OKLAHOMA CITY — In March, the NBA and international basketball governing body FIBA announced a joint “exploration of a new professional men’s basketball league in Europe.” That’s still...

Read more

Byron Scott on Kobe Bryant’s toughness: You will never see that again

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 8, 2025
0
Byron Scott on Kobe Bryant’s toughness: You will never see that again

Those benefits are something Dr. Kevin R. Stone emphasized to Forbes in a conversation about Tatum’s injury and recovery. Dr. Stone is an orthopedic surgeon at The Stone...

Read more
Next Post
Jets sign Brady Cook, Jordan Clark among undrafted free agents

Jets sign Brady Cook, Jordan Clark among undrafted free agents

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related News

Titleist Celebrates twenty fifth Anniversary of Professional V1 with Two New Golf Balls

Titleist Celebrates twenty fifth Anniversary of Professional V1 with Two New Golf Balls

January 13, 2025
WNBA runway (June version): Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Kysre Gondrezick and extra

WNBA runway (June version): Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Kysre Gondrezick and extra

June 30, 2024
Jalen Johnson: Should you watch basketball, you respect what I can do

Jalen Johnson: Should you watch basketball, you respect what I can do

November 30, 2024

Browse by Category

  • Athletics
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Boxing
  • Cricket
  • Football
  • Golf
  • MMA
  • NBA
  • NFL
  • Racing
  • Rugby
  • Soccer
  • Tennis
Today in Sports

Get the Latest Sports News and Updates on TodayInSports.net. Soccer News, Basketball News, Baseball News, Golf News, Boxing News and More!

CATEGORIES

  • Athletics
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Boxing
  • Cricket
  • Football
  • Golf
  • MMA
  • NBA
  • NFL
  • Racing
  • Rugby
  • Soccer
  • Tennis

Recent News

  • Yankees’ Aaron Judge still on ‘another level’ with latest two-homer game
  • Cristiano Ronaldo makes surprise revelation about injury after Portugal’s UEFA Nations League win over Spain
  • UFC 320, UFC Vancouver announced for October
  • Contact us
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • DMCA
  • Get the Latest Sports News and Updates on TodayInSports.net.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions

Copyright © 2024 Today in Sports.
Today in Sports is not responsible for the content of external sites.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Featured News
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • More
    • Rugby
    • Golf
    • Boxing
    • Soccer
    • NBA
    • Racing
    • Cricket

Copyright © 2024 Today in Sports.
Today in Sports is not responsible for the content of external sites.