The Los Angeles Lakers now hold a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Houston Rockets after a masterful late-game showing from LeBron James and Marcus Smart. The two combined to force two turnovers and score six points in the final 30 seconds, erasing a six-point deficit to force overtime and eventually win.
James, at age 41 in his 23rd season, continues to defy logic with his play. He scored 29 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and tallied six assists with three steals in the win. And most importantly, did so while playing an absurd 45 minutes of action. He discussed maintaining the energy to play his best basketball after so many minutes.
“I think I’ve just been preparing myself for these moments,” James said after the win. “Obviously, throughout the course of a game, we’re trying to find ways where I can get a break or whatever the case may be. But the game was so close and it was like a possession game, I felt like we could turn the game to benefit us and win the game.
“If that meant I didn’t get a break, I gotta dig deep, or deeper, in order for us to win a game and go up 3-0, then so be it. That’s what it is. We don’t play tomorrow, so I’ll have an opportunity to rest all day tomorrow, rest as much as I can. Just kind of stay in the moment, that’s basically it.”
Many were questioning if James would still be able to put together performances like this earlier in the season. James missed some time with a sciatica issue, then was slow coming out of the gates. He wasn’t expected to be the primary scorer and creator for this team at any point this season.
Despite all of that, he is still making incredible plays late in games to help the Lakers win in the playoffs. What the 41-year-old is doing continues to be unprecedented in league history, and even after that, he’ll likely be on the floor ready to do it all again in Game 4.
LeBron James calls lob to Bronny James special moment
One of the plays of the game on Friday night was a second-quarter lob from father to son. LeBron hit Bronny in stride on a perfect backdoor cut leading to a reverse layup lob. The two were perfectly in sync on the play, and after LeBron called it a special moment.
“He was calling for it,” James said on the Prime Video broadcast after the win. “I’ve seen his steps for so long, he was gathering and I was like, ‘Go get it.’ So I’m glad he was able to go up, reverse it.
“He also made a three when they tried to disrespect him and go under on the pick and roll. He gave us great minutes. Everyone that played gave us great minutes, but that was a special moment obviously.”
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