Getty Austin Reaves, LeBron James and Desmond Bane
After the Memphis Grizzlies lost Game 4 to the Los Angeles Lakers on April 24, Desmond Bane talked about LeBron James, who had 22 points and 20 rebounds in the win and three clutch layups.
James hit a layup over Jaren Jackson Jr. with 0.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 104-104 and made two more in overtime.
“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.”
At 38 years old, James is the oldest player in NBA history (regular season or playoffs) with a 20-point, 20-rebound game. “The King” is the first Laker to have a 20-20 game in the playoffs since Shaquille O’Neal in 2004. James finished Game 4 shooting 8-of-18 from the field, 1-of-7 from beyond the arc and 5-of-7 from the free-throw line in 45 minutes.
At 38 years old, LeBron James is the oldest player in NBA history (regular season or playoffs) with a 20-point, 20-rebound game.
James is the first Laker to have a 20-20 game in the playoffs since Shaq in 2004.
The Lakers are one win away from reaching the Western Conference Semifinals for the first time since 2020. Los Angeles won the NBA title in 2020 over the Miami Heat in six games at the Walt Disney World bubble in Orlando, Florida.
LeBron James Talks About His 20-20 Game
Game 4 was the first contest James had 20 points and 20 rebounds in his legendary career. The four-time MVP and four-time Finals MVP said he had no idea he had “20 and 20” until his teammate told him.
“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. He leads the playoffs in rebounds per game. The only blemish for James is his 3-point shooting, as the future Hall of Famer is shooting a woeful 18.5% from deep.
LeBron James: D’Angelo Russell Was Huge
James said All-Star point guard D’Angelo Russell was “huge” in the fourth quarter. The Lakers were down 97-90 with five minutes left in regulation before Russell went on a personal 9-0 run by hitting 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 Chris Haynes of TNT. “So that was huge.”
Russel finished with 17 points and three assists in 29 minutes while shooting 7-of-15 from the floor and 3-of-8 from 3-point range in Game 4. The lefty becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer, so every game is important for him moving forward.
Game 5 of this series is on April 26 in Memphis. The Lakers won Game 1 at the FedEx Forum but lost Game 2.
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