Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Lakers Lose Game 4, 116-113. Heartbreak and Controversies as Lakers Blow 4th Quarter Lead

Episode Date: April 28, 2025

As a matter of sports entertainment, Sunday's 116-113 loss to Minnesota in Game 4 of this first round series was unquestionably top notch. But for Lakers fans, it was monumentally disappointing. The ...Lakers blew a 10-point lead starting the fourth, and smaller leads later in the game. There were execution mistakes down the stretch. Anthony Edwards again outplayed Luka Dončić down the stretch, and JJ Redick's decision to play the entire second half without making a single substitution is, to say the least, going to be controversial among Lakers fans for a long time. The end result is that the Lakers are down 3-1 in this series, and while it's not over yet—while LA needs three straight games, two of them will be at the Crypt—to say the least the Lakers are in a very tough spot. Minnesota has been the better team, at the top end and as well as considering depth. The Lakers don't have much time to figure out how to fix things, and obviously don't have any more margin for error.  HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky SEGMENT 1: The Lakers again are outplayed down the stretch. SEGMENT 2: Did JJ Redick make a mistake? SEGMENT 3: What's next?  Your favorite podcast now has a newsletter! In One-stop for ultimate team and league coverage delivered right to your in box. Sign up for free now, at lockedondaily.com.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Amazon Fire TV Stick 4kDid you know your Fire TV is also an Xbox? Turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV Stick 4K devices — no console required. Head to Amazon.com/firetvlockedon to get started. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription and compatible controller required.WayFairAfter the holiday hustle, there’s nothing like giving your home a little TLC. Give your home the refresh it needs with Wayfair. Head to Wayfair.com right now. Wayfair. Every style. Every home.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey everyone, welcome to Locked on Lakers for Monday. Brian Komenetsky, Andy Kaminetsky, the Lakers lose a controversy-filled game for plenty to talk about 116, 113, the final score. The Lakers down 3-1. Oof, this one was a tough one. That's next. You are Locked-on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks to everybody for making Locked on Lakers.
Starting point is 00:00:36 First listen to every day Monday through Friday, no matter how or where you get your podcasts, this one's always going to be free and never, ever behind a paywall. Locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you can go hang out with 35,000 subscribers to the channel, all of whom will be debating a great many things from an incredibly entertaining and interesting
Starting point is 00:00:56 and ultimately heartbreaking game four loss for the Lakers in Minnesota. 116, 113 is the final score. The Lakers are now down. 3-1 heading into Wednesday's game 5 back at the crypt. Andy, once again, the Lakers outplayed down the stretch by Anthony Edwards and Minnesota for reasons people would be debating for a while. And before we start that debate,
Starting point is 00:01:22 I want to let people know that today's episode is brought to you by the Amazon Firestick TV 4K. Turn any TV into your Xbox, no console needed. head to Amazon.com slash fire TV locked on to learn more. All right, well, the Lakers started the fourth quarter of 10-point lead. And as it has been in most of this series, they have not finished games well, they have not finished quarters well, they have not finished halves well, and again, they end up being outplayed down the stretch.
Starting point is 00:01:54 There's a lot that we're going to, a lot of layers to this onion that we're going to be peeling back. Some of which involve ultimately credit for the Timberwolves, who have been a very good team. You and I said before the series began, they're very good. Some of the layers were going to peel back, reveal just a really crappy tasting onion, like an onion that has been moldy and rotten and needed to get. Not one of those delicious blooming onions you might get from the restaurant.
Starting point is 00:02:26 Nope. Well, if it's a restaurant, it's got an F in its window because it's not, monitoring the stuff in the in the fridge and in the dry storage area. But one of the things I will say, though, regarding the close of these games with Minnesota versus the Lakers, and it's something that I'll be honest, I did not consider as much heading into this series just because the Lakers had been playing very well, heading into the playoffs. and LeBron and Luca are, if you had to draft among the league, two guys, you know, if you had to draft two guys that you would want to close out important games,
Starting point is 00:03:09 I'm not saying LeBron and Luca would be number one and number two, but they would get picked early. The Wolves, even with the new addition of Julius Randall this season, just from their continuity for the last couple years, aunt being around a couple years, Chris Finch being around a couple of years, Chris Finch being around a couple years. They are clearly in better synergy down the stretch of games from having spent, if nothing else, more time together.
Starting point is 00:03:36 Even if you think the talent favors them, so does the time. And that is something I will admit, I did not consider as much heading into this series that I think we are starting to see as a pattern over the course of this series. Yeah, I don't think there's any question about that. And you look at, and there are a lot of reasons for it. You can talk about players. You can talk about coaching and all of these things are relevant. And you look at it, you know, the Lakers had a 10-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
Starting point is 00:04:04 They had a, you know, they lost the lead, but then, you know, they pushed it back up. I'm just kind of bouncing around the server. They were up by six with 727 left. They were up by five with 506 left. they lost the lead and got back up by two a couple times. Like, you know, they they kept fighting. And, you know, the thing that is going to be the dominant question from this game without question is J.J. Reddick's decision to play his starting lineup, the entire second half.
Starting point is 00:04:41 Well, actually his second half, his starting lineup for the third quarter for the second half, he did not make any subs. He swapped out, Dorian Finney Smith, into. that third quarter starting lineup for Jackson Hayes, who may not be allowed in the building in game five. And even when Jacks was starting to have a good game, and his opening minutes in the first quarter, I mean, I know it's a bar that is below ground to clear, but they were his best minutes.
Starting point is 00:05:13 There's his best minutes of the series. Then he picked up a foul and attack, and it's like, all right, this is. Nope. We're done. We're done. It's, who is it, you know, the godfather, you're not going to see him anymore. Paulie. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:05:25 Paulie. Yeah. Paulie. He sold out the old man. Yeah. You're not going to see him anymore. So. Left the gun and took the canoles.
Starting point is 00:05:34 I, they didn't even give him cannolis. I, um, you know, I think nobody was upset with that choice. Um, but, you know, there's no question. This is the first time since people started keeping track of these things that, um, a team did not make a single substitution in the second half of a playoff game. The flip side of this, and I do think it's worth discussing and worth noting, is while Minnesota did make some substitutions in that second half, Anthony Edwards, I don't believe, came out of the game.
Starting point is 00:06:08 And Julius Randall played about 96% of the second half. So they had guys who, you know, their primary players were out. Correct on both counts. Yeah. who played, you know, big minutes just like the Lakers players did. But not nearly as big. No. And, you know, look, I mean, Luca played 46 minutes in this game.
Starting point is 00:06:36 And LeBron was at, I just moved off the box score to look at the game cast. LeBron was at 46. So, you know, those guys sat for two minutes, the first half. I, you want to start on this? like good move bad move like i i can tell by social media reaction i think i'm the only person who's okay with this i didn't like it in the moment and i actually tweeted out there's a couple reasons i didn't like it first of all i think it was it was a bit of an extreme reaction to being up and the idea of having multiple multiple days to rest afterwards the game the game the
Starting point is 00:07:20 Lakers don't play game five until Wednesday. Wednesday. So I think it was leaning too much into that rest opportunity and not enough into the realities of the particular game. I think especially with the Lakers having a lead, you could have put in Jordan Goodwin, Gabe Vincent, Jared Vanderbilt for at least a few minutes of the top of the fourth quarter or the end of the third
Starting point is 00:07:46 just to get some guys some rest. But also- I wouldn't have done anything in the third quarter. Well, maybe not in the third quarter, but definitely the fourth. Definitely the fourth. Here's the biggest thing, though, and I called this out in real time that I did not like about doing this. Once you start getting to like the seven or six minute mark of the fourth quarter, your pot committed. Because you can't just basically spell out in neon skywriting.
Starting point is 00:08:14 I don't trust anybody else on this team. And then after sitting guys for 18 minutes, say, I need you to go in and guys I don't trust. And I think that was the biggest problem I had with this is you end up pot committed with no outs. If you end up going to overtime, you know, there's a chance that one of those five could die. I mean, it just I understand why JJ did it. what he was thinking.
Starting point is 00:08:46 I think it was too extreme of an approach that did not allow you nearly enough outs to manage the rest of the game. What I am still thinking about and probably spend it, I'll rewatch some stuff and probably spend more time thinking about it, whatever. It's pretty clear when he did make a substitution in the third quarter, this probably was going to go through to the fourth. And I think some of it was
Starting point is 00:09:16 Redick said it after the game It was not necessarily the plan They didn't go into the second half saying You know tell us you like this was Them saying like we are we have extra timeouts You could tell they were holding on two timeouts To be able to have it You know near the end of the third
Starting point is 00:09:33 I think they had four And and some stuff happened in this game That was challenging You know kind of didn't go their way for that I think it was pretty clear that they were going to, those guys weren't going to come out. And if they did, they were going to come out for such a short period of time
Starting point is 00:09:49 that I don't ultimately know if it would have made a difference. And my big question, and we can talk about this more after the break, because this is the, the topic of conversation for the Lakers. Oh, there's a roughing. Well, the roughing, but in terms of there's a lot of big picture stuff about the series
Starting point is 00:10:08 that we can get into a little bit today. But, you know, that's Monday. that's Tuesday that's going into Wednesday's game. There's a lot of time to talk about that stuff. But for Monday, the instant reaction to this game is going to be centered around no substitutions in the second half. I don't know who you would have taken out. So here's saying, like, could you put in Gabe Vincent or Jordan go to it for a couple minutes?
Starting point is 00:10:35 Sure. But who sits? And like, does Vando go in? Okay, but those minutes over the course of the series have admittedly been a little dicey. So I want to talk about the what if, like how you would have, not you personally, but how JJ or you could have, should have played that fourth quarter, I think really. We'll do that next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by prize picks, basketball, hockey playoffs. There's no better time to turn your sports knowledge into real cash than with prize picks,
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Starting point is 00:12:10 first $5 lineup. That's code locked on NBA to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Prize picks run your game. So I think the easiest substitutions here, in my opinion, would have been giving Reeves a break. But he was the one who didn't play. You can sub in, you know, Vando. I'm not Vando, like Vincent or Goodwin, but they're probably coming in for him. If you put one of those guys in for Luca or LeBron, you're getting real small, like, real quick. And you're already having trouble, you know, with Minnesota's size.
Starting point is 00:12:59 I think that to me is where the problem comes. Like, the guy who looked to me most like he needed rest by the end of the game was Luca. and, you know, LeBron, you know, was still putting out some supreme. You had been worried about him heading in the game for shame on you. I told him he be fine. I told me he was fine. He's, he, you know, what he was doing defensively was,
Starting point is 00:13:28 dude was amazing. Darn impressive. He was, I know he did not put up points in like the fourth quarter, but my God, he was amazing. He was insane. And so, I, I don't know where you can take him off the floor. And I don't know if he needed to be taken off the floor.
Starting point is 00:13:48 The question is, can you get Donchich three minutes? And then, you know, the question becomes what would have happened in those three minutes? And would it have made Luca better, you know, I'm not talking about three minutes of game time. I'm talking about like three minutes of like regular time. Like game time, it might have been 90 seconds. And I don't know if that. would have made him better down the stretch or not, we'll never know. I just, I get what JJ was doing.
Starting point is 00:14:22 It was obviously a high risk, high risk, high reward move. And it didn't work because they lost. But if the, you know, what also didn't work because they played in the fourth quarter happened differently. They looked. It's not just that it didn't work because they lost down the stretch of the game, they looked, to me at least, maybe you disagree, but certainly the commentators, you know, Doris Burke, Richard Jefferson, I believe Mike Breen, seemed to be commenting the same
Starting point is 00:14:53 thing that some of the Lakers' issues down the stretch looked like they were fatigue-related. They might have been. And that is a direct correlation to JJ's decision to take nobody off the floor at all. As far as the who, I'm sorry, I didn't interrupt you. Go ahead. No, but I mean, as far as the who, if you think Luca could use a few minutes, like you have to trust that Jordan Goodwin, gave Vincent or Vando, depending on what you wanted whoever to be out there for whatever purposes, especially playing with a lead,
Starting point is 00:15:25 which could favor into all three of those guys who are certainly somewhere between good two plus defensive presences while you're protecting a lead. If you think Luca could use a break, particularly, you know, 36 hours removed from food poisoning or whatever the hell it was, I think you have to extend some trust. Because you also start, we'll talk about this over the course of the week. It's glaringly clear now to all these other guys. JJ doesn't really trust us.
Starting point is 00:15:57 Well, I think you have to deal with that moving forward. Maybe. I think it's, look, Goodwin, the fact that Goodwin plays at all coming off of a two-way when he was a street-free agent, really. I think, I think the thing, but, but like, I think situationally, I'm not sure if he's the right guy to put on in that situation. I think what you're really saying is that they don't have a ton of faith in Vanderbilt and that they're, their issues with Vando on the floor,
Starting point is 00:16:25 but those, but like, that's also been pretty clear based on how much he's played. I'll be honest, based off the way Jordan Goodwin played in game three and I, I don't think he played badly in this game. I think you could have put them out there for three or three. But I think you,
Starting point is 00:16:39 but I don't know if you can pull Luca off the floor to put Goodwin on. That's my point. It's like, I think LeBron and Austin's still out there. Why not? For three or four minutes? Yes. I think from a side,
Starting point is 00:16:49 like obviously they could have tried it. But I just, I'm not accepting of the fact that either that those minutes wouldn't have been problematic when they were on there or that it would have made a bit, you know, that those three minutes on the bench would have made a difference for Luca. I don't know. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:17:05 I don't know. Nobody. knows, but if you're asking me, do I think it would have been, put it this way. Would anybody have thought it was insane if the fourth quarter open and Luca was sitting and Jordan Goodwin was out there? No. No, but I do think that people would have noticed later, like, you know, especially too, if it, you know, if Jordan Goodwin comes in and plays well and, you know, Luca looks
Starting point is 00:17:27 awesome down the stretch, sure, but if Lucas still dragging ass. But there are procedural elements to it. Like, there are tons. And all of it is unknowable. I just, I think if the Lakers, you know, who were thoroughly outplayed the last, by more than they were on Sunday, thoroughly outplayed down the stretch Friday. And they played a more normalish rotation for going, they've been real short all series. There's no question. But they did things more conventionally on Friday than they did on Sunday and were outplayed by more than they were.
Starting point is 00:18:05 than they were on Sunday. So I think, you know, part of the problem here is that, you know, the Lakers have been outplayed. Tibbs making JJ look like a voice. JJ making Tibbs look like a Boy Scout. Yeah. That's funny. But like.
Starting point is 00:18:22 Well played trotters. Yeah. That's Mike S. So like I think it was it was a, it was a bold move where you're certainly putting yourself out there. But we'll talk about this and we'll talk about it throughout the week. You know, and again, outplayed Luca down the stretch. It was certainly understandable in game three, given that Luca could barely stand up,
Starting point is 00:18:49 but it was very noticeable in game four. Reeves, who was certainly better in the second half than he was in the first, low bar to clear, still missed. And I'm not just talking about the potential game-time shot at the buzzer where you got a rush, your feet aren't put like okay i give him some grace for that he had two shots that were absolutely 100% wide open you know shoot around three pointers that he missed that needed to go in yes he needed to shoot 83% from three point range in the second half he needed to and he missed a couple big shots naz reed made the big one that he was wide open on um to to like and reeves when we came into
Starting point is 00:19:33 this series, part of what made us both think that the Lakers could win, win in six, win in seven, whatever, is that you and I both thought that the Lakers had three of the best four players in the series. And Reeves hasn't even been, Reaves has been fifth at best. Both Randall and Jaden McDaniels have been significantly better through four games than Austin Reeves. And so even if you thought Ant would be the best player in this series. That's okay if it goes Luca LeBron Reeves right after. But for Ant to be better than Luca and Randall and McDaniels to be better than Reeves, well, the McDaniels part is truly a killer because you and I before the series began, then we can go to break and we can also need to make sure to at least touch on the refs.
Starting point is 00:20:24 Oh, my God. Not dwell, but touch on it. Touch on. Like you and I talked about heading into this series that we thought the only player who theoretically would be the guy that would be better than Austin. Certainly based on the way everybody had been playing down the stretch, might have been Julius Randall because Randall have been playing well and also Randall is a really talented player who over the course of his career is more accomplished than Austin. So it's not just that he's been outplayed by Randall,
Starting point is 00:20:55 who we at least allowed for the possibility of that happening. Jaden McDaniels was not on either one of our bingo cards. for this. No. I, you know, I, there's just a lot.
Starting point is 00:21:11 There's a lot. And I don't want to start jumping into offseason stuff because the Lakers are done with this series yet. You know, they're going in bed. They got to win three in a row, but two of them are in their own building. And, you know,
Starting point is 00:21:25 they can, they can, this is possible. LeBron knows. LeBron knows. I don't love their odds. It's crazy here, but it's not over yet, so we're not doing off-season stuff. But in this series, the depth of Minnesota is really showing through because while Randall and
Starting point is 00:21:49 Randall and Edwards played the, we'll call it the entire second half, the other guys didn't have to. And so that makes a difference. And so let's get to that. And as you know, it's something you and I really don't like to do, but feel compelled to do in this case. It was a poorly officiated game. We get into it next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by Fanduel, the NBA playoffs they are here.
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Starting point is 00:23:18 it's always for the Lakers to go farther in the playoffs, not. Well, if one existed. If one exists, it's to keep the Lakers in the playoffs, not to get the Lakers out of the playoffs. Everybody knows that. I mean, I know the league would love for Ant to be the star, you know, the face of the league, but it's still the Lakers. Right.
Starting point is 00:23:38 Not today. It doesn't have to happen today. Or not again, maybe in the Western Conference finals, but not this early. Not now. So this game had, like, for example, there was a lot of stuff people were answering questions. Like, why didn't the Lakers have a challenge? There were a bunch of plays that Lakers would have been really helpful to get a challenge near the end of the game. Well, they didn't have a challenge because they had to use it in the first half because
Starting point is 00:24:07 Austin Reeves got called for a terrible foul against Rudy Gobert that I have no idea how it got upheld. Would have been Austin's third foul. And so in that situation, you're trying to keep one of your three best players on the floor. And I wanted theoretically your three best players. And so that's not a bad challenge, especially if you think it's pretty clear you're going to win and then keep it, which I thought I watched it live, watching the replay. So by the way. did the guys calling the game.
Starting point is 00:24:40 Correct. They thought it as well. Luca on that last play where the Lakers had to use one of their remaining timeouts, and this became a really big deal, was on the floor using that timeout because he got tripped. And then that puts the Lakers in a situation where they've got to get the inbound pass. They've got to get the ball over in like a second because they don't have any time left on the eight second. that still goes after the timeout. So that, you know, that put them in a really difficult position.
Starting point is 00:25:12 LeBron made a bad pass. I'm not trying to justify it. But like all of these things cascade. And not only do you have to burn the timeout, not only are you now inbounding in a difficult position, Lucas should have been shooting free throws. And look, locked on, you know, Ben Beacon, I'm sure is talking about all kinds of missed calls and whatever
Starting point is 00:25:29 that screwed Minnesota. But they just, there were so many, you know, AR got called for another foul on go, where apparently his face filed Rudy's elbow. Yeah, I mean, Rudy Gobert was actually pushing off Austin Reeves while, I don't think inadvertently, but nonetheless hitting him in the face with an elbow, although I don't know if it's inadvertent or not, but it's been made pretty clear. Nobody likes Rudy Gobert, man.
Starting point is 00:26:01 And the little shove to as the rep put at the back of the skull. The lower skull. The lower skull that Rudy had against LeBron, like starting to see why everybody despises this dude. You know, the Lakers didn't lose. It was not a well-officiated game. The problem is just this has happened a few times in the playoffs where coaches have to use challenges
Starting point is 00:26:22 to overturn calls that are obvious. And, you know, I am a, as very few people that you encounter in sort of NBA media, defend referees more than I do. I think it's an impossible in, in, in assignment. These guys are all too big, too fast, too strong. But the bigger thing, too, is like, it's just, it becomes that, you know, you sort of officiate for one way in the regular season. And then the mid at the postseason starts, it's like a different sport.
Starting point is 00:26:58 Well, I mean, they just need it. And I'm not like, we can do this for another 35, 40 seconds because I don't want to make it sound like we are blaming the referees for their than losing. It is not. The wolves have been the better team in this series. Like there's both things can be true. The wolves can be the better team in this series and anybody who's been listening to our coverage, we have not been short on giving the
Starting point is 00:27:20 wolves credit. Again, including leading up to the series. So this is not us whining that the officials are why the Lakers are in a three one hole. They're not. I'm saying this game, the way it was called. I'm not even calling this, talking about the series. I'm talking about this game was called in a way that had adverse effects on the Lakers. The kick ball, the kick ball that, you know, they are throwing the ball, the silent of balls, clearly kicked out of bounds. Yes. And, you know, it's not like, again, that's a play that, gosh, you wish you had that replay, you know, that, that, that review.
Starting point is 00:27:57 I'll put it this way. You were talking before the game about how if these conspiracies did exist, they would. be in favor of the Lakers. These, again, Minnesota's very good full stop. But if these miscalls or calls against the Lakers had been against the wolves, I can promise
Starting point is 00:28:18 you all NBA Twitter would be talking about is clearly the league wants the Lakers to advance. Right. Which, by the way I'd be on board with. Right. And look, it does, again, it doesn't, both these things can be true. It doesn't change the fact that the wolves have been better
Starting point is 00:28:34 than the Lakers, it does mean that the Lakers were put in a very difficult spot for a game. They actually needed to win more than the wolves. Both of these things are fine. It's little stuff. And then the places where I really start to fault the Lakers, too, it's like there was, Minnesota made a tremendous mistake in the third quarter when they started hedging and trying to trap and double Luca who was like, thank God, this is great. and now that is what helped the Lakers get loose.
Starting point is 00:29:07 Now the ball's moving around and all this kind of stuff. Fourth quarter, part of the reason, you know, it looked, you know, oh my God, they ran out of gas. The offense went back to looking kind of like it's looked for most of the series when Minnesota just started playing them more straight up. But in those moments, like the Lakers still had two or three turnovers where, like, for example, it was clear. Like, I'm watching at home.
Starting point is 00:29:34 I'm five foot nine. Stop playing competitive basketball in eighth grade. I'm not good at it. And I can tell what Luke is doing. He is intentionally trying to draw and baits Minnesota into, because he's comfortable making those passes out of the double teams. And there was a time they were the play of the turnover and they go to the timeout. And you could see Lucas screaming at DFS.
Starting point is 00:29:59 Like that works if guys come back to the ball hard. like you've got to come back to the ball and then now we can make all those passes. There were still too many plays like that where the Lakers just in moments where and I don't think JJ called enough, you know, it got too unstructured again. I think maybe that's somewhere
Starting point is 00:30:21 where you can talk about fatigue. But like in the moments where the Lakers have to see what's going on and react to it, Minnesota was better. Like those, you know, if that's a category, Minnesota won that category. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:30:41 I mean, they, they have been consistently better when better is most needed. You know, we were talking about Austin before. And this, I'd mentioned earlier in, in the show that the lack of time together that the Lakers have had with Luca, LeBron, and Reeves trying to be like the fulcrum of the offense, the engine, the catalyst of the offense. That is coming through late in games compared to the way these guys all have played together other than Julius Randall longer. You know, Ant has been working with this group longer. Chris Finch has been working with them.
Starting point is 00:31:21 Another thing that I underestimated because Austin had been playing so well down the stretch of this season. And every dayers, no, I have been much slower to be sold on Austin at the level that he had been, had he been talked about by a lot of other Lakers media, Lakers fan. I'd been slower on that to come around on it. But one thing that I did underestimate is the idea that Reeves would have the type of trouble against the slew of athletic, rangey, taller wing defenders that Minnesota has a lot of.
Starting point is 00:31:59 I just, I think it didn't dawn on me because he had been doing well against. many of those before, but the difference could become once you have more time to specifically scout harder key in on one guy in particular weaknesses that can become more exposed. I will say if we're looking for a potential positive as the Lakers try to overcome big-ass odds, Ruey Hachamore came alive in this game. And he had, I believe, 26 points, or excuse me, 23 points, 9 of 16 from the field, five of ten from behind the arc. The 16 and the 10 reflect something that I had been harping a lot about ever since
Starting point is 00:32:41 Rui put on the mask, which is he had been passing up too many shots. I don't know if his vision was compromised, if he was self-conscious, uncomfortable, whatever. This was the first game where Rui actually just let fly aggressively, sought out opportunities aggressively. And I've said this all season. the Lakers are generally better when Rui takes more shots beyond how much better they get when he makes him, but just take them. They need more of this moving forward if the Lakers are going to pull off the seemingly impossible.
Starting point is 00:33:14 Yeah, one of the things that's interesting about this is like, you know, we have talked in the Denver series. The Lakers had a last mile problem against Denver where they just couldn't close games. And they appear to have not solved their last mile problems, whether that's because they're deficient offensively or defensively. Coaching's not quite there yet or whatever it might be. I will say this
Starting point is 00:33:37 and we'll quit because there's going to be so much to talk about for Tuesday and Wednesday. A lot of LeBron's getting a lot of the people who don't really like LeBron, the LeBum crowd, are picking on him for not taking the, you know, because he passed to Reeves on that last shot.
Starting point is 00:33:55 I don't understand that. Like LeBron basically had somebody right in front of him and passed up a what would have been an off balance contested three to a guy who had five threes in the second half right and who was open wide open why on the easiest three you want a guy in the corner that's the easiest three point shot available if you're picking on lebron because of that because stars are supposed to take that shot that is you can go somewhere else with that um that criticism um
Starting point is 00:34:29 And so that part, look, LeBron, you know, didn't put up 800 points in this game, but he also carried them defensively in really difficult situations. You know, that block, you know, that he had, like he did a lot of good stuff in this game. It wasn't perfect. Needed more help, but that this game was not on LeBron. Anyway, Locked-O Lakers on YouTube is going to hang out with 35,000, and very frustrated and nervous subscribers to the channel. We, of course, will be back tomorrow and throughout the week to break it all down.
Starting point is 00:35:04 And hopefully what will be a win on Wednesday to keep this thing alive for a little while longer. And we'll see everyone tomorrow.

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