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LeBron James and the LA Lakers collapsed late in the fourth quarter and overtime in last night’s thrilling loss to the Boston Celtics. “King James” clanked a potential game-winner in the dying seconds of regulation to prevent the stunning defeat.
After the game, Celtics legend Paul Pierce could not restrain himself from trolling both James and the Lakers with this:
“Lakers, it’s game baby! Hey LeBron, it’s game!”
The Boston Celtics were playing the second night of a back-to-back schedule but looked like the fresher and more invigorated team early on. Boston exploded for 37 points in the first 12 minutes of the match to keep the LA Lakers on their heels before halftime.
Jayson Tatum showed early on why he’s one of the leading candidates for the MVP award as he poured 24 of his 44 points in the first half. He and Jaylen Brown combined for 35 of the Celtics’ 65 points in the first two-quarters of the game.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis, on the other hand, put up 28 points in total in the first half. They both played well but the Lakers were down 65-50 after the first 24 minutes of the game.
Buoyed by the home crowd who kept whistling at the team before the halftime break, the LA Lakers came out strong in the third quarter. They outscored the Celtics 32-23 and grabbed all the momentum in the game.
After trailing 81-61 at the halfway point of the third canto, LA dropped a crippling 45-12 run. LeBron James’ 22 second-half points were huge during that blistering stretch.
The Lakers were up 106-93 with just a little under four minutes left before the Boston Celtics found their reserve and rediscovered their shooting touch. Boston took LA’s best punch and rallied for a 17-4 run, which was punctuated by Jayson Tatum’s tough midrange bucket over LeBron James.
James chose to play iso ball with 16 seconds left on the clock instead of running a pick-and-roll with Anthony Davis. The Lakers’ huge rally was due in large part to their bread-and-butter scheme featuring James and AD.
LeBron James had two defenders all over him and badly missed the potential game-winner.
LeBron James and the LA Lakers are reeling again
After a spectacular 8-2 run that seemingly turned around their season for good, the LA Lakers are largely back to where they started. They are now 1-4 in their last five games, giving them an 11-16 record, which puts them in 12th place in the Western Conference.
The Lakers are currently 4.5 games behind the Golden State Warriors for the last play-in slot if the regular season were to end today. LA has been unfortunate with injuries and illnesses, particularly to LeBron James and Anthony Davis. But they’ve also lost a few games even when both are playing well just as they did to the Celtics.
LA will have a two-game homestand before they spend seven of their next eight games on the road to close out the year. They’ve shown that they can beat elite teams away from Crypto.com Arena, but they will have to consistently win games to improve their record.
