The Los Angeles Lakers are on the brink of elimination from the first round of the playoffs. If you were to tell this statement to someone before the playoffs, they’d probably laugh it off. However, Anthony Edwards’ stunning performance in Game 4 ensured the Minnesota Timberwolves’ late 116-113 victory on Sunday. The 23-year-old shooting guard scored a massive 43 points, giving the Wolves a crucial 3-1 lead in the series.

Ant-Man has emerged as the unlikely hero of this series, despite the likes of LeBron James and Luka Doncic being in it. Now, as the series heads back to Los Angeles, LeBron James and Co. face a daunting task to keep the series alive. But it makes you think, how have the Lakers fallen this far despite boasting a star-studded and fully fit roster?

Many believe this defeat’s onus lies on Lakers head coach, JJ Redick. That’s because the rookie coach decided not to make any changes to his starting five in the entire second half of the game. This was a bold decision from LA’s head coach. After swapping Jaxson Hayes for Dorian Finney-Smith, he rolled with the lineup of LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Rui Hachimura, and DFS for the rest of the game.

While Redick stated that it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, it doesn’t look good in hindsight. However, he doesn’t believe that fatigue was the reason for his team’s defeat. “No. And you know what? What did we score, 19, 20, and 13 in the fourth quarter (of losses this series)? It’s a trend, more so than that. Our two best players missed layups at the rim.” Redick stated, according to ESPN reporter Dave McMenamin. Indeed, closing out games has been a problem for the Lakers, which was somehow covered in the regular season, but has been exposed in the playoffs.

However, while fatigue may not have been a problem according to Redick, how else can one explain the Lakers’ superstars missing point-blank layups to seal the game? The Los Angeles Lakers were missing shots in the fourth, and the offense slowed down big time. So, one could assume that the players started to feel a bit tired and were not able to perform at their best.

Lakers superstar LeBron James started the game off strong and looked great, however, things took an ugly turn in the second half. James went 3-of-5 in the fourth quarter as LA scored a mere 19 points, which is much lower than Minnesota’s 32 points. He even acknowledged the missed opportunities. Still, James did not blame fatigue as the reason for the slump in the final moments of the game. However, a lesser-known old LeBron James confrontation has come to light, which has given massive insight into his feelings.

LeBron James’ old confrontation proves that JJ Redick’s stubborn tactics cost LA Game 4

LeBron James scored 27 points through the first three quarters on Sunday and played with a lot of physicality, even shooting 14 free throws in the first half alone. However, despite turning the tables by changing a three-point deficit into a 10-point lead, the 40-year-old and the rest of the players on the floor did not get a breather. Soon, the Purple & Gold suffered a major collapse after they managed to score just 19 points in the final quarter, not enough to close the gap as Minnesota pushed them to the verge of a brutal first-round exit. Former NBA forward and LeBron’s high school teammate, Kendrick Perkins, expressed his frustration with JJ Redick’s stubbornness.

The former Cleveland player was on the show ‘Road Trippin‘ hosted by former NBA forward Richard Jefferson and Allie Clifton. Perkins blamed Redick’s poor tactics for the loss, suggesting he cannot expect a 40-year-old player to give him 40+ minutes in back-to-back games, that too, without a break in between.

Moreover, he revealed a story from 2015 that shed more light on the topic of fatigue. “Let me tell you something, real talk, 2015 we’re playing the Golden State Warriors in the finals [ _ ] Matthew Dellavedova laying it all out on the line. Kyrie( Irving) got injured. All of this right getting it back, Rich Paul giving it to Bron’s a-s talking [ _ ] to him [ _ ] your a-s got to go harder [ _ ], you tripping now. Bron just [ _ ] went out there and put up Bron-type numbers. You know what Bron said, [ _ ] shut the [ _ ] up. I was [ _ ] tired, like I was tired right then. It was like yeah, bro, like hey, I’m human.” Perkins narrated.

He stated that during the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State Warriors NBA finals in 2015, LeBron James and his agent, Rich Paul, got into an argument about him not playing at his best. He wanted King James to take it to the next level. However, James stopped him and told him he was tired during the game.

Well, after all, he’s human as well. Nonetheless, Perkins wanted to correlate this story with Sunday’s matchup. He pointed out that James had to guard the likes of Julius Randle, Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid, and, of course, Anthony Edwards, which isn’t easy to do, especially at his age. He pointed out that when LA was up by 10, Redick should’ve trusted Jaxson Hayes or even Gabe Vincent to hold the water for 2-3 minutes. However, he didn’t, and it cost the Lakers the game. Now, LeBron James and Co. have no margin for error as they head back to the Crypto.com Arena for a do-or-die Game 5.