With 19 of his 34 points coming in a dominant fourth quarter, LeBron James helped the Los Angeles Lakers overcome a 21-point deficit to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers 116–112 on Wednesday night.
In the rivals’ last regular-season match as co-tenants of their downtown venue, James sent a long pass to Cam Reddish for a slam that highlighted a shocking win for the Lakers after Kawhi Leonard missed a 12-footer with five seconds remaining.
James, 39, was the focal point of it all, scoring more points in the fourth quarter (19–16) than the Clippers combined while making five of his season-high seven 3-pointers. In the last quarter, he contributed to 11 of the Lakers’ 13 baskets either a basket or an assist.
James said, “It’s just a feeling when you feel like everything you put up is going in.” “I basically stayed true to myself. I wasn’t taking risks with my injections. I continued to participate in the offensive. I just tried to control the speed of the game, and my teammates did a fantastic job of finding me. It’s only a zone. Not really sure how to put it. Wish you could remain there indefinitely.
The Clippers lost back-to-back games for the first time since December 23. Leonard scored 26 points, while James Harden finished with 23 points and nine assists. The Clippers gave up 39 points in that disastrous fourth quarter due to seven mistakes. The Clippers were missing starting center Ivica Zubac due to illness and All-Star Paul George, who missed his second straight game due to a painful left knee.
The Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said, “It’s just one game.” played a strong third of the game. didn’t complete the game. I never allow a single setback or unfortunate loss to diminish the work we’ve done and the foundation we’ve laid. We were up by twenty-one points, so it’s a difficult defeat, but this is a strong team, and you lose when you don’t play well and follow the rules.
In the first minute of the fourth quarter, the Clippers had a 98-77 lead, but James led a 29-8 run in only 7:34. With four minutes remaining, Anthony Davis’ free throws knotted the score at 106, and a few seconds later, James found Rui Hachimura for the game-winning 3-pointer.
With 1:12 remaining, D’Angelo Russell’s 3-pointer put the Lakers up 114-108. Harden and Leonard then scored on drives to the basket, while James missed two attempts for the Lakers. To the pleasure of the hundreds of Lakers supporters there for a “road” game, James found Reddish for the game-winning basket after Leonard’s last attempt missed the mark.
“How is it possible that some of his actions surprise you?” Russell enquired about James. “A lot of guys locked in defensively and provided us with what we needed, but just by being himself, he’s a big part of the reason we won this game.” We battled as a unit.
This season, the Lakers defeated the Clippers three out of four times, taking the season series for the first time since 2011–12.
For the Lakers, Davis finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, Russell finished with 18 and Hachimura contributed 17.
When Staples Center opened in 1999, the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and the Clippers and Lakers also relocated inside the arena. For the next twenty-five years, the NBA teams lived together in the same building. They played each other four times a year in a rivalry known as the Hallway Series because their locker rooms are located in the same hallway, roughly a hundred feet apart.
When the Clippers relocate to Steve Ballmer’s opulent new Inglewood facility, Intuit Dome, this fall, an era will come to an end. In order to fully emerge from the shadow of the Lakers’ 17 NBA titles and the corresponding banners on the walls of the shared arena, Ballmer determined that the Clippers needed their own home. The billionaire swiftly saw to it that this goal was accomplished.
The Clippers have made improvement, however, as they have ended with a better record than the Lakers in 10 of the previous 11 seasons, losing only in 2020 when the Lakers won their 17th championship. The power dynamic in Los Angeles still entirely favors the Lakers.
Although it has never occurred, the clubs might yet face one other in a postseason series this spring.
Reddish made his 14-game absence on the field due to an injured right ankle go back.
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