JJ Redick rips officials for critical missed call on Luka Doncic in Lakers playoff loss vs. Timberwolves

There were several key calls throughout Game 4 this afternoon between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves. One of the biggest for LA, though, was one that wasn’t whistled in the closing minute of the game.

JJ Redick was blunt with an answer about a no-call for Luka Doncic within the final seconds of the game following a 116-113 loss for the Lakers that now has them down at 3-2 in their first-round series against the ‘Wolves in the NBA Playoffs. He recalled the moment, which he reacted to on the sideline and baseline in-game, when Doncic went down amidst tight defense from Jaden McDaniels.

JJ: "Luka got tripped. That was a blatant trip. He doesn't just fall on his own. We should have been at the free throw line. He got fouled" pic.twitter.com/gIzqtv32fs

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) April 27, 2025

“Well, let’s, let’s just start with Luka got tripped. I mean, that was a blatant trip. He doesn’t just fall on his own,” Redick said. “We, we watched it. You know, he gets tripped so we should have been at the free-throw line. You know, that’s not an excuse for why we lost but he got fouled, yeah. You know, we had a chance to go up.”

Once Doncic went down, Los Angeles had to call a timeout with 33 seconds left in the game down one point at 114-113. That led to an inbounds pass by LeBron James which was stolen by McDaniels and, on that next possession, ended with two free throws for Anthony Edwards. The Lakers would then get one last look in the corner to tie it from three with a miss by Austin Reaves ending the game and pushing the series to a 3-1 lead for the T-Wolves coming out of the pair of games in Minneapolis.

“Just, uh, you know. Again, you, you work on the end-game stuff and, you know, you draw it up and you tell guys very specific things. We didn’t execute it and, very obvious, we didn’t execute it,” said Redick. “So, I, I don’t know what to – that’s my only vantage point, you know. We just didn’t execute it.”

The game would be sealed on a fourth quarter at 32-19 in favor of Minnesota. Los Angeles would lead by as much as a dozen in the game and ten entering the fourth quarter before the Timberwolves closed on a 19-9 run over the final five minutes of the game.

With that, Edwards (43 points, nine rebounds, six assists) outdueled Doncic (38 points) and James (27 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, three steals, three blocks) in Game 4. He was able to do so with contributions from Julius Randle (25 points, seven rebounds) and McDaniels (16 points, 11 rebounds). LA also got help from Rui Hachimura (23 points, five rebounds) and Reaves (17 points, seven rebounds).

A lot of calls, specifically fouls with 42 whistled for 58 free throws shot off them, affected this matchup in the postseason as they all do. That said, this one was as important as any as it could’ve possibly changed how the final seconds went for the Lakers today as they now head back to Los Angeles facing elimination in being down 3-1.