On the Los Angeles Lakers’ first possession of the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers, they turned the ball over, leading to a Mason Plumlee dunk and a 21-point deficit. And from then on, it was the LeBron James show.
LeBron hit five 3-pointers, scoring 19 points in the fourth while the Lakers defense held the Clippers to just 16 points in the final period as they would come back for a shocking 116-112 victory in their final meeting of the season.
It was an absolutely unreal performance from James and a huge comeback for the Lakers as a whole in a game they needed to win. In fact, according to Anthony Gharib of ESPN, it was the largest fourth quarter comeback by any LeBron James team in his career:
The Lakers trailed by 21 points in the 4th quarter tonight and ended up with a win.
This is the largest 4th quarter comeback win by a LeBron James team in his career, per @ESPNStatsInfo.
— Anthony Gharib (@GharibSports) February 29, 2024
It took an entire team effort to come away with this victory. Obviously LeBron pushed the offense, but the defense stepped up big time in the final period as well. Additionally, players like D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura made some huge clutch shots down the stretch.
No one could have predicted a Lakers comeback on this night, and for good reason. According to ESPN statistician Blake Warye, NBA teams had lost 866 straight games when going into the fourth quarter with a deficit as big as what the Lakers faced on Wednesday night:
NBA teams had lost 866 consecutive games when they trailed by 19+ points entering the 4th quarter until the @Lakers defeated the Clippers tonight
— Blake Warye (@bwaryeofblake) February 29, 2024
Simply put, James reached a level that very few players in the history of the league are capable of reaching, and certainly no one in their 21st NBA season. The Lakers as a whole stepped up and did what needed to be done to get the win, but it was LeBron leading the way and showing he can still put forth those big-time performances when needed.
Darvin Ham says LeBron James put on his superhero cape to lead Lakers
After the Lakers’ massive comeback victory, all anyone could talk about was LeBron James and the unbelievable fourth quarter he had. Head coach Darvin Ham described it as LeBron putting on a superhero cape down the stretch.
“Everybody was just cheering him on,” Ham said. “He had to tape a cape tucked under his seat on the bench, I guess. He had to whip it out, he definitely did that, put the cape on and just got aggressive and got in a good rhythm. He’s been shooting the ball extremely well this whole entire season and that was just another case of it.
“Once he got in rhythm and with his playmaking skills, he sets the tone with his shooting and going down hill, but once they started scheming and trying to double team late, he was able to pick them apart with a pass and that’s just who he is.”
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