Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - LAKERS POSTCAST Wolves END Lakers Season in 5

Episode Date: May 1, 2025

Rudy Gobert had 27 points and 24 rebounds, and former Laker Julius Randle added 23 as the Minnesota Timberwolves closed out their best of seven series with the Lakers 103-96 in five games. Luka Dončić led the Lakers with 28 points and LeBron James added 22, but it wasn’t enough as the Lakers' summer plans begin today. Lakers, LA Lakers, Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Rui, Hachimura Austin Reaves, Dalton Knecht, Dorian Finney-Smith, NBA, Lakers Post cast, JJ Redick, Dave Palet, Lakers vs Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers vs Minnesota Timberwolves Anthony Edwards, NBA Playoffs Support Us, By Supporting Our Sponsors!WAYFAIR (3/31 - 4/27)Spring is here, and that means it's home project season! Whether you're refreshing a room or tackling a full renovation, Wayfair is the best-kept secret for all things home improvement.From small updates like stylish cabinet hardware to major upgrades like new vanities, sinks, or outdoor lighting—Wayfair has quality products for every budget.· I just upgraded my [kitchen/bathroom/living space] with Wayfair, and the selection was incredible!· Their free and fast shipping made it so easy—no hauling heavy items from the store!· I love that they have top brands like GE and Moen at great prices.· Shopping was seamless, and I found exactly what I needed to fit my space and style.Wayfair makes home improvement easy! Get started now at Wayfair dot com. That’s W-A-Y-F-A-I-R dot com—Wayfair, every style, every home.Gametime (Flight Dates: 4/14–6/15)There’s nothing like the atmosphere of an NBA Playoff game—every bucket, every defensive stop, every moment feels huge. It’s electric in the arena, and with Gametime, you can be part of it without the stress of last-minute ticket hunting.Gametime makes it fast and easy to get playoff tickets, even when demand is sky-high. Prices on the app actually go down as tip-off gets closer, and their last-minute deals can save you up to 60%.· Priority: Last-minute deals: Save up to 60% off buying last minute for sports, concerts, comedy, theater, etc.· The all-in pricing means no surprise fees at checkout—what you see is what you pay.Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase.Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-B-A for $20 off.Download Gametime today. Last-minute tickets. Lowest price. Guaranteed. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You are a Locked-on Lakers Postcast, part of Locked-on Sports Los Angeles, on the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Well, the Lakers play with their backs against the wall. They fall behind early, and they fall short in a terrible fourth quarter. We talked about it all on the Lockdown Lakers Postcast. I'm Dave Palais. Again, if you're joining in for the first time tonight, I've been with you all season long, but just a little bit of background. again, a 30-year vet in sports broadcasting in the Southern California area for more than, let's see, about 12 years in Los Angeles and about 22 in San Diego.

But again, best part of the job I've ever had and doing national stuff for years was covering the Lakers. For the Lakers, again, from 1993 to 2005. And again, as I say all the time, I had the good years. I had the years when Shaq came into the league. I had the years when Sha, excuse me, when Shaq was a Laker and Kobe came. into the league and at the same time watching this team grow. And from the star players they've had, from LeBron James to being around Luca, as a media

member, has been absolutely outstanding. Tonight was not an outstanding night. And again, if you're a Laker fan like me, and I'm sure you are right now, you're irritated, you saw the holes that this team has, you saw the deficiencies they had, and you saw it all come to fruition tonight. And the Lakers fall short and they're done in five games against Minnesota Timberwolves when the Lakers were a higher seed, they lose 103.96. And it becomes extremely frustrating because that's the word we've used the most lately

when the Lakers have fallen short on what is the issue with this team. And where do you want to point fingers and say when you aren't winning, who's that fault? And why isn't this team winning? What could this team have done differently to basically turn things around? And right now it's one of those where it's not turning things around for this year because the season is over. as we do this show on April 30th, this season's over. So big question is going to be,

what do you want to see from the team this summer? What do you want to see from the team when they regroup for training camp? And what do you want this roster to look like? Because this right now, obviously, is not acceptable basketball if you're a Laker fan, if you're part of the Lake Organization. This is not good. This is extremely disappointing, frustrating, underachieving. So many different adjectives you can use to describe

exactly what happened this year, 24, 25 season, the Lakers fall short. And when there are so many things that we were excited about and thought things were going in the right direction, it obviously wasn't enough. And was it enough for most people's eyes? Was it the coaching issue? Was it a player issue? Was it a roster issue? Which way do you go? So let's start right now. This is what you'll be talking about. And right now I'm talking about J.J. Reddick, for me, who I tip my hat to a lot and saying I thought he grew a lot as a coach. And I know he has Nate McMillan. He has Scott Brooks, his assistants, former NBA coaches. He's a former NBA player. But I think when you look at what the Lakers did the last few games, I think it goes right to J.J. Reddick. I think he panicked as a coach. I think he panicked. He didn't trust his bench. And at the same time, when you're asking your bench and your players to dig deep and say, what do you have left? Well, he made it clear. to them, that this is not a full team, that this is basically a team full of a few stars that are going to carry us, and it's not going to be a well-rounded atmosphere with the Lakers. And I think

there are a lot of guys that will get dressed and clean out their lockers tonight and be pissed off and not just angry because the team lost, but angry because they feel their head coach and the organization lost faith in them. And you hear all the time that a team is only as strong as as its weakest link. So again, if it's as strong as its weakest link and the, and the Lakers fall short and you're telling the bench that you don't mean anything to us. And everything we did during the regular season to earn that number three seed basically meant nothing. Again, the Lakers a couple days ago in Minnesota, they ended up going with all five starters

in the second half and never used their bench. Tonight, the Lakers bench only had four points. And those four points all came in the first half. The Lakers did nothing for their bench. I've never seen anything like it where basically it was Jared, at Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent who got in and gave Vincent didn't get to do what Gabe Vincent does best, which means setting up for a corner three. It was very disappointing to see that they weren't able to learn from their mistakes or

learn from where they fell short. So they end up with four points off the bench where when you look at Minnesota and they have 22 off the bench. Minnesota actually uses guys off the bench. Now I understand Nas Reid, who's very good bench player, didn't have one of a typical Nazree night, but at the same time, Minnesota and Chris Finch completely out-coached JJ Redick and the Lakers. And let's go where the blame goes.

It's like, okay, Rudy Gobert. Rudy Gobert completely dominated this Laker team. And so the Minnesota Timberwolves went at the Lakers and said, we're going to go after a mismatch. You have nothing in the middle. And we knew we had nothing in the middle once we got rid of Anthony Davis. Okay, Jackson Hayes obviously added the starting lineup tonight, doesn't see a minute, and that's fine too.

And that's just the way he decided to go. But guess what? You can take Rudy Gobert out of the game by basically countering with a team that's full of shooters and said this for a long time. Look, Jared Vanderbilt might be your best offender. But man, every time Jared Vanderbilt gets the ball, it frustrates me. Whether it's a traveling call, whether it's a mislayup, Jared Vanderbilt was not there for offense.

I don't know why the Lakers even give him touches around the basket unless it's a dunk. You cannot rely on him. The fact that they even feed the ball to Jared Vanderbilt at all is bizarre to me. It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make sense to me that you have guys that can shoot threes. Again, I know I'm president of the Dalton Connect fan club, and there's a very good chance to Alton Connect won't be a Laker come this fall, as you're already hearing rumors that he can be involved in trades,

even, you know, big ones for Janus, and you're hearing Austin Reeves and first-round picks and major changes coming. I don't know exactly what Rob Polinka is going to do. But right now, this Laker team has some serious questions to answer. And I think right now, JJ Redick showed he coached like a rookie head coach, a guy who panicked. He completely panicked as a coach. And I'm not saying you get rid of J.J. Reddick.

I think J.J. Reddick actually was a good hire for this team. I think guys played hard for him. But the same guys who played harder for them are the same guys that he lost faith in. And so it was very strange, especially after what happened on Sunday, for the Lakers to go about this game, an elimination game like this. and basically never have really control of this game at all. The Lakers really didn't have a chance. There were times when the Lakers took a lead.

The Lakers were chasing the entire time. Minnesota was in control from the first quarter where they outscored the Lakers 31-22. Second quarter, outscore the Lakers 2827. Fourth quarter outscore the Lakers 22-16. That's right, 16 points. That's all the Lakers got in the fourth quarter. 16 points.

What have we said all season long? The Lakers need at least 30 points a quarter to have a chance to win. The Lakers did that once. In the third quarter, the Lakers have 31 points, and they outscored the walls 3122. That's when we thought we had a chance. And so the team falls short, and it becomes frustrating that the team falls short,

and we're really upset because the season's over, and you go, what can this team do so it doesn't feel like this for years to come? We're going to get to your comments as well. I'm curious to know what you guys think about, not only tonight's game, but what do you want to see for the future of this Laker team? Because right now, this obviously isn't good enough, and there's some changes that need to be made. First, let's get to our sponsors. I want to mention the people over at Wayfair looks bring us here, and that means it's home project season, whether refreshing a room or you're tackling a full renovation.

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But in June, I'm doing the tour of the ballpark. So only have a few left. It's going to hit Milwaukee, going to hit the Chicago White Sox. And that's in Sandy Reds over a weekend. Guess what? I'm using game time. I always do. Every time I make these trips, every single summer with my son, we go through the GameTime app. Look, GameTime makes it fast and easy to get playoff tickets as well.

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code L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-B for $20 off. Download GameTime today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right. So so much going on right now with this Laker team and the frustration level with this Laker team. Curious to know what you think as well, as we have a bunch of people that are in the comment section. I know you guys are very upset.

Obviously, this is our last Laker postcast. You can get these postcast anywhere you get podcasts anywhere, any format. And again, appreciate the guys that have been with me all season long, whether it's Christmas Day, whether it's New Year's Eve, you guys have been with me through this season and through good times and bad, even when we thought the roster was garbage, the time that all of a sudden we get Dorian Finney Smith, even gets better, and we get Luca, the excitement factor.

You've written this one out with me, and I thought we'd be doing these shows all the way through June, but unfortunately it's April 30th, and our season comes to an end. Craig, especially in BC, thank you guys. You guys don't miss shows. You guys are absolutely outstanding. So I really appreciate you guys being here. Craig, I see you say four bench points.

I can't believe either. Four bench points. Those are all in the first half. You know, BC says the office is garbage. Can't score 100 points for 20 points in the fourth quarter. Yeah, you know what? These guys were burnt. These guys were done.

Whether you want to say, you know, Luca had the back problems, whether you want to say it was LeBron, his knee, those guys did everything they possibly could. I don't exactly point the finger at them. I look at Craig makes a good point with the Reeves and his point. and the amount of turnovers. They're very frustrating. BC says Phil Jackson almost never lost in the playoffs as the higher seed.

Yeah, you know what? I'm a huge Phil Jackson fan, Pat Riley fan. You look at guys, you know, that have done it over the years that are Hall of Fame coaches. And the funny thing is JJ Redick obviously was a player in this league for a long time. And you think he would understand. And he played for one of the greatest coaches of all time, but Coach K at Duke, it seemed like a guy that completely panicked that didn't have a of experience.

And it felt like he forgot the way the NBA game goes. Now, I don't know what goes on behind the scenes with the Lakers as far as after Sunday and Rob Polinka get involved. But I'm very disappointed that there's nobody that could get in JJ Redick's ear to change things the way he did things on Sunday. Because what happened on Sunday of playing all five guys the entire second half, it was the talk of the league. It was foolish.

It didn't make any sense. So you're almost going to double down and do the same thing today. And you have no faith. no faith in the bench. If I was a Laker player, again, on this bench that got normal minutes during the season and help this team get a number three seed, I don't know if I want to be here. I don't know if I'm a player that's available to come to the Lakers if I want to be here. That's not exactly enticing to a lot of people. Remember when Kobe was here and some people said they don't want to play with Kobe? Look, I don't want to play with Luca because he's going to find you. I'd want to play with the king, LeBron James, because I could say I played with one of the greatest players of all time. But I'd have some reserve feelings about J.J. Reddick and does he know what's best for this team? And if JJ Reddick was in his third or fourth year, he'd be shown the door after this falling short in the first round. But the fact it's his first year, he's going to get some leeway on this.

This was a wasted season. When you have a 40-year-old Hall of Famer like LeBron James, you can't afford away seasons. We've been saying this all the time. BC, I agree with you. The team played worse as the series went on. J.J. Redick has to take the blame. I think he's going to take the blame tomorrow. I think nationally it's going to.

to be JJ Redick, he let them down. You know, Craig, I like your comedy. At least the Dodgers won easy. I actually love the Dodger game today. But man, I love Dodger baseball. I love Laker basketball. Kings are breaking my heart to at the same time. But, you know, you expect something different.

When you look at a team that has 17 championships, you expect the Lakers to get past the first round. And they couldn't do that today. And so that's very, very frustrating. And then B.C. says, why do you extend Palinka before the playoffs? I think Palinka did a fine job. I'll be honest with you.

I have no problems with Palincan what he had to do. You got Luca. You got the second best player in the entire NBA. Here's my question for you guys, because this went around like crazy, because you saw all the talk that Janus could be a Lakers as early as this summer. Would you like Janus now and have to give up a bunch of guys,

including Austin Reeves and Dalton Connect and maybe four first round picks for a guy like Janus? Or would you rather wait a year and possibly get the Joker? because the Joker and Luca are best friends. In this league, those guys are closest can be, and would you rather wait? Now, look, at the same time, you go, what does that mean for LeBron James?

Well, LeBron James is rumored to take a lot less money on this next contract. At the same time, what does LeBron have left at age 42? And at the same time, do we care? Right? We root for the Lakers. We don't say that we root for one player here or there, but if Luca's going to be here for the next 10 years

and you can get the Joker who's going to be here at the same time, who's beating that team? Let's be honest with you. Who's beating that team? Honey Grace Robo says I'd rather take Darwin Ham. I tell you what, he got further, right? I mean, you can sit there and look at all the Laker coaches

they fired in the last five, six years, and you can sit there and go, man, I don't know if I would take JJ Redick of any of those guys. But when you lose in the first round and you have two of the greatest players to ever play on the same team, you might sit there and look at this and go, this was a catastrophe.

This was a huge mistake by this Laker franchise. And so I can see your frustration in the comments. I feel this exact same way. We're going to wake up tomorrow and go, when are the Dodgers play? You know, and you're going to realize Dodgers don't play on Thursday. You're going to have to wait until Friday from the take on the Braves. And then you're going to have to sit there and say,

are the king going to lose the Oilers again? And you're going to sit there and go, one of the Rams and Chargers start. And you're going to go, okay, Laker basketball is here in late October. and we're going to try and do this all over again and see what this roster looks like. By the way, I like Janus. Man, I wouldn't make that trade for Janus right now.

If you look at Janus and what he has and what he does, Janus is not the same player he was a few years ago and the league has changed. We all know this is a three-point league. Again, that being a three-point league, you explain to me the usage again of Dalton Connect and gave Vince because I don't understand it. Do not understand it in this entire series of what happened. So for me, I would wait for the Joker. if I could get the Joker and move forward. I think Luke and the Joker would be great together.

I think as Laker fans, we would love it. And it falls right in the line as far as what the Lakers do. Lakers lose again tonight, 103, 96. It's frustrating. Lakers trailed basically the entire time. There were times when the Lakers jumped in and they took leads and you go, okay, they're going to make a run. Well, they really didn't.

The Lakers really didn't. I mean, there are times where, you know, you're thinking things are going in the right way and 818 remaining in the fourth quarter. Reeves hits a three-pointer, Lakers up 85, 84. They can't expand it. Again, 723, not even a minute into that. We couldn't hold a lead.

Wolves are up 87-85. Luca gets a jumper of 628 remaining in the fourth quarter. Lakers up by 1, 88, 87. Thornton and Finney Smith fouls out, 6-07, on a weak call, by the way. Weak as can be. 536, wolves go up by three. Rudy Gober's rebound and dunk. And again, the Lakers struggled.

I mean, 2.30 remaining. Has Luca ever had a more wide open layup than he had? And he missed it. And the wolves turn around and make a big basket. They go up 97.91. And that was basically it. That was basically it. And the Lakers fall short. So, again, they lose.

There's nothing I can say that changes the outcome. 103.96. I'm kind of just in shock as far as what happened tonight. Disappointing. And I point the finger, as I said before, JJ Reddick, and I point the finger at the lack of the bench and everything that went out. So let's get to our lock. on player of the game. It's the last one of the year.

This is the locked on player of the game. On player of the game, look, I would love to say it to Laker. You guys have heard me say it all season long. I hate giving this to anyone that's not a Laker. Luca finished for 28 points tonight. He had seven rebounds, nine assists. Normally it should be good enough for player of the game. LeBron, he had 22.7 rebounds, six assists. Rui even had 23 for the Lakers, but it was not enough. It wasn't enough.

Austin Reeves, huge disappointment, 40 minutes, 12 points, six turnovers, five of 14 shooting. Austin Reeves, when they needed him, wasn't there. The player of the game, unfortunately, is one of the least favorite guys in the entire league. It's Rudy Gober. Even guys on Minnesota don't like Rudy Gobert. Rudy Gobert is hated by his own teammates, has been hated since he was at Utah. Rudy Gobert, though, is the player of the game.

I mean, look, Minnesota decided that we're going to attack the paint, and the Lakers had no answer for it at all. Rudy Gobert tonight and 39 minutes had 27 points, 24 rebounds. Not even close. Your player of the game is Rudy Gobert. What a horrible wait in the season. Not only the Lakers lose, but I get to give the player the game to Rudy Gober.

Are you kidding me? Anyway, again, I want to thank everyone for joining me all season long. This is the end. This is the last show. And thank everyone again for your loyalty, not only to locked on Lakers postcast, but also to me, you guys have been absolutely outstanding. And I appreciate you guys spend in your evenings

and talking Laker basketball. It's been a blast the entire time, and you guys have been great. So again, Lakers lose 103-96. Better luck in the 2025-2020s season. We'll have a great summer, and we'll end it with Go Dodgers because we need a team that actually wins to root for.

Have a good night, everybody.