Wednesday was a must-win for LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers after a disappointing loss to the Phoenix Suns.
The Los Angeles Clippers lost Paul George and Ivica Zubac, which amplified the urgency for the Lakers to win this game. But they still found themselves down 21 points in the fourth quarter as things looked bleak for the Lakers.
Fortunately, James put the team on his back, scoring 19 points in the fourth alone to fuel a wild comeback victory for the purple and gold. The 39-year-old detailed what it was like to be in that kind of zone offensively where he hit 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 in comes into play. For me, I just stayed consistent. I wasn’t taking ill-advised photos. I stayed during the offensive.
“When I was able to get the switches, I was able to get myself some space and get some extra looks, so my teammates did a great job of continuing to find me. And then I just tried to dictate the tempo and dictating the game as we started running to bring the game closer and closer. It’s just one zone, and you can’t really describe it. You wish you could stay there forever, but obviously it This is true after the game is over. But during that, you don’t feel anything. It’s like a super power, I think.
With such a large margin against a great Clippers team, James described what he saw in the final frame and how he and the four others on the court were able to execute.
“Obviously we knew we were down with a big deficit going into the fourth quarter, so we had to execute offensively, we had to make great shots, we had to make shots, and then we had to make stops,” he said. -he declares.
“We were able to do it. I think 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 get back to the other end and score. So it worked out well for us to start this quarter and then we just tried to keep the momentum going when we made the substitutions.
This isn’t the first time James has gone crazy in the fourth quarter, but to do so in his 21st season is mind-boggling. However, he knows that every time he is on the court he has to be special offensively.
“If I’m in a lineup, if I’m on the field, I have to play,” James said. “Sometimes I had to make even more plays and tonight was one of those times where I had to make even more plays so we could get back in the game and ultimately win the game. Obviously every game is important to us , especially right now. We have to approach things that way. But tonight was a really good test for us. It was a great test, playing one of the best teams in the league, at home, and being able to keep our composure to weather the storm of that fourth quarter was very key for us.
In a crucial final stretch of the regular season, the Lakers’ March schedule is daunting, taking on some of the league’s best teams. But James believes Wednesday’s victory is a valuable learning experience.
“I mean, it’s a good test because any time you go against a big ballclub it could work out well for you and obviously tonight was a great test,” he said.
“If we ever find ourselves in that situation, we know how to handle it or how to deal with it. Obviously you never want to be down 21 going into the fourth or 19 down to start the fourth, that’s never the cost of a game, but if that happens we know we can buckle down, make stops and make some 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 were able to see how we handle tonight’s success by coming tomorrow and also being mentally prepared.
The four-time champion continues to defy the odds in the latter stages of his career while keeping the Lakers alive in a heated playoff race. Every game counts and for LeBron to give this kind of performance in the fourth quarter, it couldn’t have come at a better time.
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