LeBron James on Wednesday staged the biggest fourth-quarter comeback of his two-decade career as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a 21-point deficit to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers 116-112.
The 39-year-old reeled off 34 points — 19 of them in the fourth quarter — to help the Lakers claim a pulsating victory over their in-form city rivals at the Crypto.com Arena.
It was another storybook performance from the evergreen James, who along with the Lakers had looked to be heading for an emphatic defeat after the Clippers jumped into a 98-77 lead early in the final frame, but an inspired James helped the Lakers outscore the Clippers 39-16 in the fourth quarter to see them home.
Photo: Gary A. Vasquez-USA Today
“The game is not ever over until it’s double zeroes [on the clock],” James said after the win.
James was backed by 20 points and 12 rebounds from Anthony Davis, while D’Angelo Russell added 18 and Rui Hachimura 13.
Kawhi Leonard topped the Clippers scoring with 26 points.
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue took responsibility for the loss.
“When you’re up 21 points you can’t lose a game like that,” Lue said. “I don’t think that’s ever happened since I’ve been coaching — to lose a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter.”
Elsewhere, Nikola Jokic bagged his fourth straight triple-double as the Denver Nuggets overpowered the Sacramento Kings 117-96.
Anthony Edwards shrugged off a lingering ankle injury to score 34 points as the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves overcame stubborn resistance from the struggling Memphis Grizzlies to grind out a 110-101 victory.
In Toronto, Luka Doncic celebrated his 25th birthday with a 30-point triple-double as the Dallas Mavericks bounced back from Tuesday’s shattering buzzer-beater defeat to Cleveland with a 136-125 win over the Raptors.
Doncic scored 15 of his 30 points in the third quarter, finishing the game with 16 assists and 11 rebounds to complete his triple-double.
“Just a normal game, a triple-double,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said of Doncic’s gem. “He was really good. Luka is our leader and he was really good tonight.”
Cleveland were unable to back up Tuesday’s win over the Dallas Mavericks in their road game against Chicago, the Bulls winning 132-123 in double overtime.
Donovan Mitchell could have won it for Cleveland as time expired in the first period of overtime, only to see his jump-shot miss.
Pascal Siakam, Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner had double-doubles as hosts the Indiana Pacers never trailed in defeating the New Orleans Pelicans 123-114.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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