The Los Angeles Lakers capped off a 21-point fourth-quarter comeback to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 116-112 in their final regular-season matchup in the Crypto.com Arena. LeBron James went nuclear in the fourth quarter, scoring 19 points to lead the comeback as fans went absolutely ballistics.
Entered the fourth down 19. Left with the W. pic.twitter.com/mT4SiJaa1D
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 29, 2024
Kevin O’Connor shared a sentiment many people did about not taking LeBron James for granted with this level of performance.
Don't take LeBron James for granted. pic.twitter.com/cSATxw40Mf
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnor) February 29, 2024
Fans thought the game was over when the Lakers ended the third quarter with a 19-point deficit.
Nah lakers going CRAZY. I thought it might’ve been over at the end of 3rd
— Mark Phillips (@SupremeDreams_1) February 29, 2024
Fans were stunned at the absurd fourth quarter statistics LeBron had tonight.
LeBron singled handily out-scored the Clippers in the 4th and was directly responsible for 30 of the 39 points the Lakers scored in the 4th
— LegendOfWinning (@LegendOfWinning) February 29, 2024
Fans joked about how seriously LeBron takes matchups against the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard.
LeBron James when it’s time to fight for the title of King of LA: pic.twitter.com/OgvqDoAZyn
— jay ➠ (@flvckojamie) February 29, 2024
Fans observed how LeBron attacked James Harden’s defensive deficiencies to pull the comeback off.
LeBron switch hunted Harden's soul every possession and took this game. Holy shit.
— Raj C. (@RajChipalu) February 29, 2024
The fact that LeBron is still a top-10 player in 2024 is blowing the minds of fans.
https://twitter.com/bansky/status/1763073504658788411
Games like this reminded fans that LeBron’s greatness won’t be on display forever.
going to be a sad day when LeBron’s not playing anymore
— Slightly Biased (@BiasedSlightly) February 29, 2024
LeBron James was the man of the night, ending the night with 34 points, six rebounds, and eight assists. His 19 fourth-quarter points were more than the entire Clippers roster, who put up just 16 points in the final 12 minutes of the game. Anthony Davis put up 20 points with 12 rebounds and three blocks, while D’Angelo Russell added 18 points and Rui Hachimura scored 17 points.
The Clippers were short-handed without Paul George and Ivica Zubac. Kawhi Leonard had 26 points, seven rebounds, and six assists while James Harden had 23 points and nine assists. The team went ice-cold in the fourth quarter after taking a 21-point lead with 11 minutes to go, as they couldn’t stop the Lakers from scoring or getting a basket themselves.
The Lakers Remain In The Hunt For A Top-Six Seed
With the Western Conference playoff picture looking almost set with the 10 teams in the post-season, squads on the lower end are all trying to climb up to No. 6. With tonight’s win, the Lakers improve their record to 32-28 as the No. 9 seed. They face tough competition from the Warriors below them and are two games behind the No. 8 seed Sacramento Kings.
This win also gives them the season series over the Clippers with a 3-1 advantage. This loss has dropped the Clippers to the No. 4 seed but they remain 6.5 games ahead of the Lakers. Unless the Clippers completely fall off and the Lakers go on a winning streak, it’s safe to say the Lakers cannot climb into a home-court position in any realistic way. But they’re just three games behind the No. 6 seed, which is an attainable goal.
This is the kind of win that can jump-start a struggling team into an incredible late-season run. We know the Lakers are capable of it given what they achieved last year, but it won’t be as easy given the extremely high level of competition in the West this season.
Unfortunately, the Lakers are entering one of their toughest stretches of the season, with incredibly tough competition ahead. Hopefully, they can keep their heads afloat and be boosted in confidence after beating the Clippers tonight.
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