Lakers collapse late in the fourth quarter on LeBron’s milestone night
On the night LeBron James made NBA history as the first player to reach 40,000 career points, the Lakers’ collapse late in the fourth quarter marred the achievement in their 124–114 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.
“They made plays. That’s what championship teams do. And we just didn’t make enough of them.” head coach Darvin Ham said.
The 10-point loss drops the Lakers season record to 33–29 and the 10th spot in the West — just a half a game behind the Golden State Warriors.
The Lakers controlled most of the first half until the start of the second half when Denver went on a 15-9 run to get the score within two. The Nuggets momentum continued throughout as they outscored L.A. 68–48 in the second half.
The final four minutes reminisced last season's Western Conference Finals, with contested shots by Jamal Murray (24 points, 11 assists), Nikola Jokić (35 points, 10 rebounds) and a rare contested three from Aaron Gordon (18 points).
In their last chance at turning around a would-be collapse, the Lakers kept the score close within one (111–110) with 3:46 left. But the Nuggets' efforts were too much for Los Angeles, as they went on a commanding 13-2 final run to close the game.
The Lakers loss to Denver makes it eight straight losses to the Nuggets that dates back to Jan. 9, 2023.
James surpassed the scoring milestone at the 10:40-minute mark in the second quarter. Achieving it on a layup after a nifty spin move to get past Denver’s Michael Porter Jr., with the home crowd roar ensuing and a standing ovation on the next timeout.
“For me, the main thing is always the main thing and that’s to win, so I hate that it happened in defeat,” James said.
James finished with 26 points, nine assists, four rebounds and three steals in 37 minutes.
With a solid 13 points and 6 rebounds at the half, it looked like he was headed toward a huge second-half outing.
He ended up finishing with just four points and six rebounds throughout the next two quarters in the Lakers second half collapse, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds in 38 minutes.
Denver's Porter Jr. became the first player in NBA history to attempt 10 plus field goals and five plus 3-point shots and shoot 100% from both, according to NBA History on X.
In the midst of a historic feat and a Lakers collapse, Austin Reaves notched a career-high 14 assists in the loss, with 19 points on 7-of-12 (58%) shooting.
“Ever since the playoffs last year, they’ve for the most part beat us in those last three to four minutes. We have to figure out what we have to do to flip that,” Reaves said.
The Lakers will look to bounce back from its loss on Monday as they face the 41–18 Oklahoma City Thunder at Crypto.com Arena at 7:30 p.m.
