LeBron James alone scored more points than the entire LA Clippers team in the fourth quarter, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to come back from a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
“When the final whistle has not yet sounded and the game clock has not yet reached 4 zeros, the game has not stopped,” LeBron James replied, pointing to the electronic clock on the basketball board.
At an age when most of his colleagues have retired or only play “floral” games to grow old, LeBron James can still put an entire team on his shoulders, carry the burden and lead the team to victory.
That’s what happened at Crypto.com Arena at noon on February 29 Vietnam time, where the Los Angeles Lakers were down 21 points in the fourth quarter but still won 116-112 against the LA Clippers.
LA Clippers led Los Angeles Lakers by 21 points in the fourth quarter but still lost with the final score of 116-112
The biggest gap was created after Mason Plumlee’s scoring to open the fourth quarter, putting the LA Clippers up 98-77. From here the comeback of the Los Angeles Lakers began.
LeBron James “started the engine” with 3 3-pointers in 2 minutes, contributing to a 14-2 run to shorten the score to 91-100, forcing the LA Clippers to have a timeout with 8 minutes and 47 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
However, nothing changed and the Lakers continued to close the gap to 5 points. LeBron scored 5 personal points and assisted 1 more 3-pointer for D’Angelo Russell, causing the Clippers to call a time-out again at the 6 minute 53 second mark (99-104).
LeBron James suddenly exploded with 5 3-pointers in the last 10 minutes of the game
Kawhi Leonard scored 2 points to temporarily interrupt the Lakers’ excitement, but this did not mean much as LeBron James continued to flourish.
“The King” had another 5-0 scoring streak and then assisted D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura threw in two more 3-pointers, putting the Los Angeles Lakers up 114-108 against the LA Clippers.
After Leonard’s two difficult baskets, the LA Clippers have a chance to take the match into overtime or win if they shoot 3 points successfully (114-112).
However, that scenario did not happen when LeBron locked Kawhi Leonard in the decisive phase, sealing an emotional comeback victory for the Los Angeles Lakers.
This is the most successful comeback from the furthest gap in the fourth quarter that LeBron James has ever experienced
In the whole match, LeBron James scored 34 points with 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 2 more blocks in 37 minutes of play. If counted in the fourth quarter alone, LeBron James (19 PTS, 5-8 3PT) scored more points than the entire LA Clippers team combined (16 PTS). This statistic does not include James’ 4 assists, bringing 11 more points including 3 3-pointers from Russell and Hachimura.
Right behind him is Anthony Davis with 20 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 stella and 3 blocks. Rui Hachimura scored 17 points (8-15 FG). Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell contributed 13 and 18 points respectively.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, this is a historic comeback in LeBron James’ career. During his 20 years of playing in the NBA until today’s match, the “king” had faced a 21-point gap in the fourth quarter 136 times and had never won.
This time James changed the script and wrote a spectacular comeback victory. Even more impressive and classy was when LeBron himself was the focus of the decisive half, hitting five 3-pointers in the final 12 minutes of the match.
And not only LeBron James made history, but so did the Los Angeles Lakers. For the first time since April 2003, the yellow and purple team won when they entered the fourth quarter down 19 points.
