Stephen A. Smith criticizes JJ Redick's unprecedented move in desperation to play starters all of second half

During Game 4 of the Minnesota Timberwolves-LA Lakers series, coach JJ Redick played his starters for the entirety of the second half. While the decision was made with the approval of players, with the stipulation that they could call for a substitution if need be, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith wasn't a fan.

During Wednesday's "First Take," after LA dropped Game 4 94-85, the analyst took aim at Redick for playing the starters heavy minutes.

"I'm not condemning JJ Redick, but the reality of the situation is you're not going to win many playoff games if you don't rest your starters in the entire second half," Smith said. "That's just a fact. Because the teams that you're going up against are no joke."

As Smith went on to say, he believes that LA will win Game 5 and bring the series to 3-2, however, he doesn't think that LA can overcome their 3-1 deficit.

Throughout NBA history, we've seen 13 teams successfully overcome 3-1 deficits in the playoffs, with the most recent example being the 2020 Denver Nuggets, who came back from down 3-1 against the Utah Jazz in the first round and the LA Clippers in the second round of the playoffs.

JJ Redick defends controversial decision to play starters throughout the entire second half of Game 4

After going down 3-1 in their first-round series, JJ Redick spoke with members of the press on Tuesday following a morning practice.

Despite the fact that he now becomes the first coach in recorded history to play five players for a full half of playoff basketball, Redick defended the move, pointing to late-game blunders as the reason the team came up short.

"Our two best players missed layups at the rim, I don't think they missed layups because they were tired," Redick said."

While it's unclear whether fatigue directly affected the late-game blunders, the Lakers' play noticeably declined in the fourth quarter.

Coming out of the first half, LA went on a 14-0 run with LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith on the court. However, in the fourth, the team went through a dry spell that saw Doncic shoot just 1-for-6, and James 0-for-2.

Now, heading into Game 5 on Wednesday, the team will look to stave off elimination and force the series back to Minnesota for a Game 6 on Friday.