Getty LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena.
Anthony Davis turned into a fan and watched in awe as his 39-year-old co-captain LeBron James carried the Los Angeles Lakers on his back to a much-needed come-from-behind win against their intra-city rival Clippers.
Davis described James’ magical fourth quarter as his “sicko mode.”
“Obviously, Bron went to his little sicko mode and just ran off like 40 straight but we just had to get stops in order to get the win,” Davis told reporters after their epic comeback.
James outscored the entire Clippers team 19-16 in the fourth quarter for a signature win as the Lakers wiped out a 21-point deficit in the final 11:45. He hit five of his season-high seven 3-pointers in the pivotal fourth quarter and either scored or assisted on 11 of the Lakers’ 13 baskets in the final period.
James finished with a game-high 34 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 blocks while Davis added 20 and 12 rebounds with 3 blocks.
4th Quarter Comeback
The Lakers appeared to be heading to their second straight loss against a Western Conference rival when Mason Plumlee opened the fourth quarter with a layup to extend the Clippers lead to 99-78.
Then James took matters into his own hands.
James scored 19 of the Lakers’ next 28 points. His final basket cut the Clippers lead 106-104 with 4:36 left. Then he assisted Rui Hachimura for the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:26 left and set up another 3-pointer from D’Angelo Russell for a 114-108 Lakers lead with 72 seconds remaining.
The four-time MVP capped his heroics with a defensive stop on Clippers final play against their star, Kawhi Leonard, then grabbed the rebound and threw an outlet pass to Cam Reddish for a breakaway dunk that punctuated their biggest win of the season.
“It’s just a big win for us knowing teams ahead of us and we’re trying to climb up the standings,” Davis said. So you didn’t want to lose two in a row but sometimes you sit on the bench and get to witness greatness and be a fan and that’s what it was for a lot of us tonight. I was watching, just being a fan of you what he was able to do but then just the team as well — how great they’re playing to start the fourth quarter.”
James led the Lakers comeback with Russell, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish and Jaxson Hayes. That group cut the 21-point deficit to five, 104-99 when Davis and Austin Reaves came in to finish the job with James.
Lakers Win Season Series
The win pushed the Lakers (32-28) back to ninth place in the tight Western Conference standings. But more importantly, they won the season series against the Clippers 3-1 for the first time since 2012 and sent them off in their last game at Crypto.com Arena as their co-tenant with a loss.
Next season, the Clippers will move into the state-of-the-art Intuit Dome, their new arena built by their owner Steve Ballmer, at Inglewood.
The Lakers will be looking to get closer to No. 8 Sacramento Kings (33-25) with a win against the lottery-bound Washington Wizards this Thursday, February 29, on the second night of a back-to-back set.