On Sunday, the Los Angeles Lakers couldn’t win on the road against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers lost to the Wolves, 116-113, in Game 4 of the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs, which gave the winning team a 3-1 series lead. Following the defeat, longtime analyst Skip Bayless aired frustration over the Purple & Gold squad and their All-Star pair.
LeBron James finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists on 55.6 percent shooting from the field. Defensively, James was active and had three steals and three blocks. His co-star, Luka Doncic, led the Lakers in scoring with his 38-point outing. Doncic shot 46.4 percent from the field and went 5-for-12 from beyond the arc.
However, one thing that stood out for L.A. was James’ fourth-quarter display. The four-time champion played the entire period and attempted two shots on the floor. Unfortunately for the Lakers, the 40-year-old forward couldn’t contribute in the scoring department.
Bayless criticized James and Doncic for failing to lead the Lakers to a win.
“I CANNOT BELIEVE LEBRON JAMES AND LUKA DONCIC ARE NOW DOWN 3-1 TO THE TWOLVES. I CAN’T HELP IT: I’M ABOUT TO UNLEASH A VIDEO ABOUT WHAT I JUST WITNESSED,” the analyst posted.
I CANNOT BELIEVE LEBRON JAMES AND LUKA DONCIC ARE NOW DOWN 3-1 TO THE TWOLVES. I CAN'T HELP IT: I'M ABOUT TO UNLEASH A VIDEO ABOUT WHAT I JUST WITNESSED.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) April 27, 2025
He also called out Austin Reaves for missing the potential game-tying shot from three.
“NOOOOOO WAAAAAAYYYYYY. THE LAKERS JUST BLEW A 10-POINT 4TH QUARTER LEAD AS LEBRON WENT SCORELESS IN THE 4TH AND AUSTIN REAVES MISSED THE TYING 3 FROM THE CORNER (FAR RIM) AT THE BUZZER.”
The Los Angeles Lakers will host the Timberwolves for Game 5 at the Crypto.com Arena. They’ll try to prevent the opposing team from ending the series at their home court on Wednesday.
Los Angeles Lakers forward acknowledges that LeBron James has come back from being down 3-1
While the odds are stacked against the Los Angeles Lakers, they haven’t lost all hope. Lakers’ forward Dorian Finney-Smith knows they have the star player who willed a team down 3-1 in the NBA Finals to win the championship. Finney-Smith believes they can still win the series and just have to take it one game at a time.
“We still feel like we can win this series. We just gotta win one game at a time. Obviously we put ourselves in harms way, but we just gotta figure it out as a team,” Finney-Smith commented after the tough loss.
Dorian Finney-Smith acknowledged that LeBron has come back from down 3-1 before.
"We still feel like we can win this series. We just gotta win one game at a time. Obviously we put ourselves in harms way, but we just gotta figure it out as a team."
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) April 27, 2025
In 2016, James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a comeback from a 3-1 deficit against the 73-win Golden State Warriors. The four-time Finals MVP did everything he could to will the Cavs to win the series and earn the Larry O’Brien trophy for Cleveland.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ season is on the line, but they still have hope in their star player.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
