Getty Lakers stars LeBron James and D'Angelo Russell
After the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 4 on April 24, D’Angelo Russell issued a tweet on LeBron James.
No words.
The picture Russell tweeted is a video of a kid saying “LeBron James” over and over again. It’s a popular video and an appropriate one for Russell to tweet since James had 22 points and 20 rebounds in Game 4. “The King” became the oldest player in NBA history to have a 20-20 game (regular season or playoffs). James is 38 years old and still one of the best players in the league.
The Lakers are up 3-1 on the Grizzlies. They are one win away from advancing to the Western Conference Semifinals. Game 5 is on April 26 in Memphis at the FedEx Forum. Los Angeles won Game 1 on the road but lost Game 2.
LeBron James: The Lakers Don’t Win Game 4 Without D’Angelo Russell
James told Chris Haynes of TNT after Game 4 that the Lakers wouldn’t have won without Russell’s clutch play in the fourth quarter. The purple and gold were down 97-90 with five minutes left in regulation before Russell went on a personal 9-0 run with three 3-pointers.
“Without D’Lo and that fourth quarter, when the game was kind of stalling out and we couldn’t get a good shot, we couldn’t get a good look, D’Lo hit back-to-back 3s and gave us an opportunity to even put ourself in a position to go to overtime,” James told Haynes. “So that was huge.”
Russell, who is in his second stint with the Lakers, finished with 17 points and three assists in 29 minutes in Game 4 while shooting 7-of-15 from the field and 3-of-8 from beyond the arc. The Ohio State product scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half.
The Lakers acquired Russell from the Minnesota Timberwolves at the February trade deadline. The lefty becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer and the LakeShow are interested in bringing Russell back as long as the money makes sense, sources told Heavy Sports.
LeBron James Speaks About His 20-20 Game
James became the first Laker to have a 20-20 game in the playoffs in Game 4 since Shaquille O’Neal back in 2004. The four-time MVP and four-time Finals MVP leads the 2023 postseason in rebounds per game.
“When my teammates told me I had 20 and 20, I had no idea that I had 20 and 20,” James said. “This the first time I’ve done it in my career. I’ve done some pretty cool things in my career. I’ve never had 20 and 20 before. So it’s pretty cool I guess.”
James is averaging 24.0 points, 13.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists against the Grizzlies. The four-time champion has never blown a 3-1 series lead in the playoffs during his iconic career. If the Lakers beat the Grizzlies, they will face the winner of the Sacramento Kings-Golden State Warriors series.
Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane, who is one of the strongest players in the NBA, told reporters after Game 4 that “game-plan discipline” hurt Memphis against James.
“I mean, it always comes down to game-plan discipline,” Bane said. “I mean, LeBron’s been a strong right-hand driver since he’s came into the league 20 years ago or however long he’s been in the league and he gets to his right hand and we got two guys on that side that are supposed to be in help and we didn’t execute and it’s pretty much as simple as that. I mean, game-plan discipline, we need it for 48 minutes and it let us down.”