There could be something such that too LeBron.
Unable to trust one of his reserve players in match 4 of a best seven series against the Timberwolves, the Lakers coach, JJ Redick, has chosen to play the same five players for the second half – rather than playing one of his bench players – in an overwhelming defeat of 116-113 to lower 3-1 in the series.
It may have led to a fourth aimless for LeBron James when the Lakers most needed their 40-year-old star.
The legend of Lakers, Magic Johnson, let Redick hear it for the decision that may have cost their season to the Lakers.
“I do not know if it is intelligent to play LeBron and Luka all the second half after having only had one day of rest between matches 3 and 4”, “,” Johnson said in an article on X. “When we needed LeBron to take over in the fourth quarter, he could not – he scored 0 points in the fourth.”
The personality of ESPN Kendrick Perkins echoes similar feelings in a post on X.
“Recruit of JJ !!! Bron and Luka (Donic) had died tired … You have to find time to rest a little. Above all, a LeBron James, 40, who is in his 100th season.”
Playing the 24 minutes of the second half was certainly a strange choice for the same programming of five men, but especially for James, who was responsible for being the central defender of Anthony Edwards as well as a main source of offense for Los Angeles.
James finished the match with 27 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists with three impressive interceptions and three blocks in 46 minutes.
Los Angeles transmitted the chance to rest one or the other of their stars at the start of the fourth quarter when they led 10 points.
Instead, Redick tried the opportunity to be able to rely on the head to transport them through the finish line.
It would be for nothing because Edwards nailed 3 consecutive points to open the fourth quarter, because the two -digit head had almost evaporated by the brand of five minutes.
After the match, We asked Redick if he was the idea of not having given James a minute or two to rest for the end of the game game.
“Not on this one,” said Redick, adding that he had asked these five players if they could go all the fourth quarter. “Once you have somehow made this decision, you just have to trust them.”
Redick also blamed the referees for a “blatant journey” on the star Luka Doncic with a little less than two minutes to play, which led to a critical turnover of James during an inbound game that followed.
Los Angeles is in competition for a championship with a makeshift list after failing to acquire a center after Anthony Davis was sent to the Mavericks in the agreement Dononic.
They had an agreement in place to acquire Mark Williams of the Hornets in exchange for the recruit Dalton Knecht and the draft choices, but the Lakers personnel failed the Williams medical examination, leaving Los Angeles without the size necessary to compete at the highest level.
Johnson, who previously operated on the president of the Lakers when James signed with the team in 2018 before leaving and putting the job back to the Robo Pelinka rival, is undoubtedly partly to blame for the lack of depth of the Lakers in the center.
Johnson exchanged Ivica Zubac to the Clippers against Mike Muscala, who is now outside the League in 2019, just two months before the resignation of the Lakers Front Office in 2019.
Zubac, a defensive player of the candidate, turned into a star through the city.
Los Angeles will have an additional rest while they will return home, licking their injuries, while they are preparing to defend their field on Wednesday in an essential elimination match against the Timberwolves.
