Wednesday was a must-win for LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers after a disappointing loss against the Phoenix Suns.
The Los Angeles Clippers were down Paul George and Ivica Zubac, which amplified the urgency for the Lakers to win that game. But they still found themselves down 21 points in the fourth quarter as things were doom and gloom for the Lakers.
Thankfully, James put the team on his back, scoring 19 points in the fourth alone to fuel a crazy comeback win for the purple and gold. The 39-year-old detailed how it felt to be in that kind of zone offensively where he made five triples.
“I was just in the zone,” James said. “I know we’ve kind of heard what it feels like to be in the zone in our sport and it’s just a feeling where you feel like everything you put up is going in. For me, I just kept it consistent. I wasn’t taking ill-advised shots. I stayed in the course of the offense.”
“When I was able to get the switches, I was able to get myself some space and get a couple more looks, so my teammates did a great job of continuing to find me. And then I just tried to dictate the tempo and dictate the game as we started making a run to get the game closer and closer and closer. It’s just a zone, and you can’t really describe it. You wish you could stay in it forever, but obviously it checks out once the game ends. But during it, you don’t feel anything. It’s just like a superpower, I feel.”
Down that big of a margin to a great Clippers team, James described what he saw in the final frame and how he and the other four on the floor were able to execute.
“Obviously we knew we were down with a big deficit to start the fourth quarter so we had to execute offensively, we had to get great shots, we had to make shots and then we had to get stops,” he said.
“We were able to do that. I thought the lineup that started the fourth quarter, I think it was me, DLo, Cam, Jaxson and TP, we did a great job of getting stops and then trying to go back on the other end and scoring. So it worked out well for us to start that quarter and then we just tried to keep the momentum going when we made the subs.”
This is not the first time James has gone berserk in a fourth quarter, but to do it in his 21st season is mind-boggling. However, he knows that whenever he is on the court, he has to be special offensively.
“If I’m in a lineup, if I’m on the floor, I got to make plays,” James said. “Sometimes I got to make even more plays and tonight was one of those moments where I had to make even more plays in order for us to even get back into the game and then ultimately win the game. Obviously every game is important for us, especially at this moment. We have to approach it that way. But tonight was a really good test for us. It was a great test, being down against one of the best teams in the league, on their home floor, and being able to keep our composure, to weather the storm in that fourth quarter was very key for us.”
In a crucial final stretch of the regular season, the Lakers’ March schedule is daunting, playing against some top teams in the league. But James believes Wednesday’s win is a valuable learning experience.
“I mean, it’s a good test because anytime you get to verse a great ballclub it could work well for you and obviously tonight was a great test,” he said.
“If we’re ever put in that position again, we know how to handle it or how to go for it. Obviously you never want to be down 21 in the fourth or 19 to start the fourth, that’s not ever the cost of a game, but if it happens, we know we can buckle down and get stops and make shots if we just play the game the right way. So I think it was a good test for us but another good test for us tomorrow. We got to see how we handle the success of tonight by coming in tomorrow and being mentally prepared as well.”
The four-time champion continues to defy the odds in the latter stages of his career while also keeping the Lakers alive in a heated playoff race. Every game matters and for LeBron to give this kind of fourth-quarter performance, could not have come at a better time.
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