Lakers have Dalton Knecht solution to addressing key postseason woes

Game 4 was the second matchup in a row that held a familiar pattern for the Los Angeles Lakers. The longer the game progressed, the more notable it was just how much fatigue was holding the Lakers back from sealing the deal on a very winnable game.

Lakers legs are starting to show -- shots short, not as sharp on rotations

— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) April 27, 2025

JJ Redick made the bold call to run five players for the entire second half. That was the first time since tracking has been around in NBA playoff history that type of decision had been made. It resulted in the second straight game where the fourth quarter did not go the Lakers' way. Los Angeles was outscored 32-19 by the Minnesota Timberwolves, losing the game 116-113.

"I don't think fatigue had anything to do with that," LeBron James refuted in his response to a reporter. "We just missed some point-blank shots. We were getting to what we wanted to get into, and we just weren't able to convert."

While James is arguing against the point, it is difficult to ignore the actual on-court product disagreeing with his claims. The Lakers need a solution to solve their current predicament, and the time to take chances is now.

Knecht offers answer to questionable bench production

In defense of Redick's decision to run only five guys on Sunday afternoon, it is surely difficult to be lacking trust in the rotational players available to you. Crunch time was supposed to be an advantage for the Lakers entering this series.

Instead, areas like their offensive execution have suffered. The Lakers devolved to a lot of standing around and watching Luka Doncic play isolation basketball for consecutive offensive trips while trying to catch their breath.

After Jaxson Hayes only played 4 minutes in Game 4, it would be a fair estimation to expect Redick changing up his starting lineup for Game 5 by adding Dorian Finney-Smith to that group. However, that adjustment makes an already underperforming bench even worse.

Unless the expectation is to play the Lakers death lineup for a full 48 minutes, Redick will still need to turn to the bench at some point for meaningful minutes. This could be the point in the postseason to finally allow Dalton Knecht an opportunity to impact the series.

Knecht slipped down the pecking order in Los Angeles towards the end of the season. However, the Lakers coach made it clear the rookie is not an afterthought on the team.

"We feel like he's a guy who can help us win a game in the playoffs, maybe multiple games," JJ Redick told Daniel Starkand in April.

Knecht's scoring upside could give the Lakers key buckets off the bench they have not seen all series. The most productive game for the second unit was Game 3, scoring 19. The leading scorer of that group, Finney-Smith, would theoretically be leaving them behind.

The concerns around Knecht's defense are valid. Redick would need to be careful with which perimeter defenders are left on the floor at the same time. Despite that, the Lakers are crying out for some sort of reliability off the bench. The additional scoring punch would be a great start.