Edwards zooms past 'gassed' Lakers as Wolves take 3-1 lead - ESPN

MINNEAPOLIS — With Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick keeping the same five players on the court for the entire second half of Game 4 on Sunday, Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards said he knew L.A. would be susceptible to his late-game attack.

«I felt like they were gassed going down the stretch,» Edwards said after Minnesota erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to win 116-113 and go up 3-1 in their first-round Western Conference series. «So just trying to keep my foot on the pedal and keep going.»

Edwards nearly matched the Lakers' fourth-quarter point total single-handedly, scoring 16 of his game-high 43 points as Minnesota outscored L.A. 32-19. The Lakers shot just 5-for-18 in the fourth — including 3-for-9 in the final five minutes — but LeBron James said tired legs were not the cause of the misses.

«We got some really good looks,» said James, who had another strong performance with 27 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. «Luka [Doncic] missed a point-blank layup to put us up seven. I missed a point-blank layup to put us up four. We had a couple opportunities. I don't think fatigue had anything to do with that. Just missing some point-blank shots, you know? We were getting into what we wanted to get into. We just weren't able to convert.»

Lakers reserve forward Dorian Finney-Smith was told a couple of minutes before the start of the third quarter by L.A. assistant coach, Nate McMillan, that he would be starting the second half in the place of center Jaxson Hayes. Finney-Smith, James, Doncic, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura started the third on a 14-0 run to take control and outscored the Wolves 36-23 in the period.

Redick said it was «not a planned thing» to only use five players in the