NBA star Lebron James was all it took for the Los Angeles Lakers to fabricate a 116-112 comeback win against the LA Clippers on Wednesday.
This marks the largest fourth-quarter comeback of James’ 21-year career, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
James wired 21 points, outscoring the Clippers 19-16 in the final frame, including hitting 5-for-8 from 3 with four assists, to close the game in favor of the Lakers.
James hit three 3s in the first 3:13 of the fourth quarter, prompting the Clippers Tyronn Lue to call timeout.
“It’s just a zone, and you can’t really describe it,” James said after finishing with 34 points and eight assists.
“You wish you could stay in it forever, but obviously it checks out once the game ends. But during it, you don’t feel anything. It’s just like a superpower feel.”
The Lakers had lost two of their three games after the All-Stars series. They needed the win.
“He had to take the cape, tuck it under his seat on the bench, I guess,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said of his star.
“It was time for him to whip it out. He definitely did that, put the cape on and just got aggressive and got into a good rhythm.”
The final surge was fueled by seven Clippers turnovers in the fourth quarter, leading to 18 points for the Lakers.
“I don’t think that’s ever happened in my career since I’ve been coaching to lose a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter,” Lue said. “But LeBron got hot. We talked about it before the game: You can’t turn the ball over against his team because it’s deadly.”
The Lakers are now in the No. 9 spot in the Western Conference playoff picture at 32-28 — just three games behind the No. 5 Phoenix Suns with 22 games left to play.
