LeBron heroics lifts Lakers' fourth-quarter comeback
Down 19 points heading into the fourth-quarter after a Norman Powell buzzer-beater heave, it looked all but determined down as many as 21 in a lopsided three quarters. Then LeBron James happened, scoring 19 points in the final quarter that sparked a 39–16 final quarter comeback.
“When you feel like everything you put up is going in,” said LeBron. “During it, you don’t feel anything; it's like a superpower.”
LeBron’s ‘superpower,’ hitting five threes in the fourth and going 7-for-12 overall from deep, sparked the Lakers' biggest comeback of the season, reminiscing last season's 27-point comeback against the Mavericks that sparked a season run to the Western Conference Finals.
“He just caught fire,” said head coach Darvin Ham on LeBron’s fourth-quarter heater.
LeBron finished with a game-high 34 points on 62% (13-for-21) shooting from the field, with eight assists, six rebounds, and two blocks.
The Lakers’ 116–112 win over their hometown rival marks the last time these roommates will host a game against each other in their shared Crypto.com Arena as the Clippers will permanently move to Intuit Dome starting next season — a great good-buy gift that dates back to 1999 when the Clippers began sharing the stadium.
Down the stretch, the comeback was earned behind late-game execution from the starting unit, with Rui Hachimura (17 points) hitting a three, followed by a reverse layup on the next possession to give them a five-point lead with 2:25 to go.
D’Angelo Russell (18 points, six assists) joined in on the high momentum with a final-second shot clock three, assisted by LeBron off a double team, without dipping — catching it from his face and following through on his shot, hitting nothing but net to give the Lakers their biggest lead (six) of the night.
“I got doubled again I was able to find Dlo for a catch-high, stay-high three ball, which was a big play for us,” LeBron said. “It’s great that we can lean on our guys and everybody feel like their very comfortable in making a play throughout the course of the game no matter the time.”
The fourth-quarter rally was also achieved by an offensive game plan on exploiting Clippers’ mismatch bigman Daniel Theis, which focused on switching Lebron with a simple screen to get Kawhi Leonard off of him.
The action was called point-rub, according to Ham, which targets the defense's weakest defender where they can get an advantage on offense.
The Lakers continue their home stretch on Thursday's second night of a back-to-back against the Washington Wizards, who haven't reached 10 wins as they sit at 9-49 on the season.
