JJ Redick went off on the officials after Sunday’s loss to the Timberwolves, which put the Lakers on the brink of elimination in the first round.
While the bigger problem on Sunday was the fact that the Lakers let a fourth-quarter lead slip away in what ended up being a 116-113 loss at Target Center, Reddick was not happy with the way the game was officiated and specifically called out an instance involving Luka Doncic.
The play in question was one in the fourth quarter, during which Doncic appeared to be tripped up, but no call was made.
“Luka got tripped. That was a blatant trip. He doesn’t just fall on his own. We watched and he gets tripped. We should have been at the free-throw line, that’s not an excuse for why we lost, but he got fouled,” Redick said.
Doncic had been trying to advance the ball over the half-court line when he, depending on who you ask, was tripped or stepped on Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels’ foot and lost his balance.
Anthony Edwards helped propel the T-Wolves to a win on Sunday night and finished the game with 43 points on 12-of-23 shooting from the field, nine rebounds, six assists, and one block.
The Lakers’ precarious situation has led to criticism of Redick, including from Lakers legend Magic Johnson, who questioned why LeBron James and Doncic were used so much in the second half.
“I dont know if it smart to play LeBron [James] and Luka [Doncic] the entire second half after only having one day of rest between Games 3 and 4,” Johnson posted on X on Sunday. “When we needed LeBron to take over in the fourth quarter he couldn’t—he scored 0 points in the fourth.”
He also posted: “I’m just sick to my stomach that the Lakers lost this game after being in control most of the 2nd half.”
The Lakers’ entire season will be on the line on Wednesday when Game 5 takes place at Crypto.com Arena.
