Obviously the majority of the focus, and rightfully so, is on LeBron James after his 19-point fourth quarter in the Los Angeles Lakers’ comeback win over the Los Angeles Clippers. But when the Clippers began focusing more on shutting LeBron down late, D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura stepped up as well.
With the game tied late, LeBron found Hachimura for a 3-pointer. On the next possession, it was Russell hitting Hachimura for a reverse layup, followed by LeBron finding Russell for a huge 3 that put the Lakers up six with just over a minute left.
The 21-point comeback was a huge one for the Lakers, who really needed the win and Russell believes this can be the start of a good run for the team.
“It’s a huge win for us,” Russell said. “I think it was good. Obviously we got a back-to-back coming up, tough schedule coming out of All-Star. These next 20 games are gonna be huge for us, a key to our success. Starting off with this one I think is great.”
The Lakers are still in ninth place in the Western Conference right now and have to string some wins together if they plan on catching the likes of the Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans.
But in the end, this night was about James once again proving why is he arguably the greatest player ever and Russell is no longer surprised at anything he does.
“It’s becoming regular, right? I mean, how can you be surprised with some of the things he does?” Russell added. “A lot of guys were locked in defensively and giving us what we needed, but he’s a huge reason we won this game just from him being him. Taking over the game when it seemed a little out of reach, and obviously as a group, we followed. It was nice to see and nice to be a part of.”
It was a team effort without a doubt, but LeBron set the tone, singlehandedly outscoring the Clippers in the fourth quarter and showing that even in his 21st season, he can still takeover when necessary.
Lakers’ 21-point fourth quarter comeback largest by any LeBron James team
If the LeBron James-led Lakers comeback against the Clippers seemed impossible, it’s because it hadn’t been done in his career. The 21-point fourth quarter deficit was the largest any James team has overcome in his career.
Additionally, NBA teams had lost 866 consecutive games when going into the fourth quarter trailing by at least 19 points before the Lakers’ victory Wednesday night.
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