Christian Delvion

JJ Redick stared at his bench at halftime and basically said, “Forget it. These five got us here, these five finish it.”

So the Lakers rolled with:

LeBron James · Luka Doncic · Austin Reaves · Rui Hachimura · Dorian Finney-Smith

—every second of the third quarter and the first 6-plus minutes of the fourth, the first time on record a playoff coach has played just five guys for an entire half.

For a while, it looked genius

Luka: 38 pts, 13-for-28 FG, 5-for-12 3P—kept every run alive.

LeBron: 27 pts, 12 reb, 8 ast—plus two steals and three blocks.

Rui & Reaves: 23 and 17, combining for 6 threes.

DFS: 6 pts, 8 reb, 6 ast, endless switches.

A 14-0 burst to open the third had L.A. up 79-68 and chirping.

Then 24 straight minutes of court time started to show

By the eight-minute mark of the fourth their legs were jelly:

Closeouts late.

Rotations slow.

Jumpers front-rim.

Minnesota smelled it—and pounced.

What the Wolves did

Put Ant at the controls. Anthony Edwards hunted high pick-and-rolls, forcing double-teams, then sprayed passes when help came. He dropped 43-9-6, with 16 in the fourth.

Spammed Naz Reid pick--pops. Chris Finch re-inserted Reid for Rudy Gobert; Reid hit a quick five-point burst and kept Rui or DFS glued to the arc, opening the lane.

Ghost-cuts & second-side action. Jaden McDaniels dunk-and-1 off Ant’s skip pass; Donte DiVincenzo’s back-cut three-point play; constant movement that made tired Lakers chase.

Result: Wolves won the fourth 32-19 and the game 116-113, taking a 3-1 series lead.

The gamble in hindsight

Redick’s plan gave L.A. its best third-quarter punch—but guaranteed empty tanks for winning time. When the wall hit, there was no fresh body to climb it.

In playoff basketball, trust in your best five can feel heroic… until gravity shows up and no one’s left to catch you on the way down.