My understanding is after they struggled to get ahead of Minny in the 1st half (no thanks to the bench), JJ then leaned on his best lineup for the entirety of the 3rd. It worked. The Lakers offense was rolling in that quarter and they put up a double digit lead.Okay let's play all 5 all 48 then for Game 4 so we can build a big lead for the 4th quarter collapse
Now you're faced with the dilemna of - do you continue to roll with that momentum of that lineup to start the 4th, or do you rest them and rely on the unreliable bench?
Given how every 4th quarter went over the first three games, it would seem to me the former is the lesser of two evils. Denver did the same in their Game 4, and they just managed to hang on, leaning on Jokic/Jamal down the stretch of the game and they just had enough juice to last. This game could've easily went in the Lakers favor if not for a couple of controversial calls and a late turnover from Bron when they were down by 1 point.