LeBron James’ 14-point run in the fourth helped the Los Angeles Lakers in their comeback win.
Los Angeles rolled through the San Antonio Spurs late in the fourth quarter as they came back from an eight-point San Antonio lead to give the Lakers a 121-113 victory.
James made a lay-up shot at the 8:03 mark of the fourth that spearheaded this Lakers comeback. Los Angeles kept chipping the San Antonio lead away. With 5:26 left in the game, James made a three-pointer to gain the lead at 97-99.
The Lakers took the lead again at the 2:36 mark as James assisted Lonzo Ball on a three-point shot to lead the Spurs 104-107. Los Angeles continued to try to break away from San Antonio as Josh Hart and Kyle Kuzma extended the Lakers’ lead.
Kuzma’s dunk at 2:13 extended the Lakers’ lead to 104-109 and Hart followed up with a three-pointer to maintain their lead at 107-112 with 1:38 left in the game.
James split his free throws with 20.8 seconds left to seal the victory for Los Angeles. 20 of James’ 42 points were scored in his dominant fourth quarter. This is the third 40-point game that he has had since joining the Lakers.
Spurs Stars Shine
DeMar DeRozan and Rudy Gay gave Los Angeles problems throughout the game. DeRozan and Gay contributed to the Spurs early 7-0 run in the fourth quarter to lead the Lakers 89-83.
DeRozan and Gay were the top scorers for the Spurs as they combined for 63 points on 24-48 field goals and 50 percent from the field. Both players were also perfect from the free throw line. Gay shot 40 percent from three-point range.
Gay scored 16 points in the third quarter as part of San Antonio’s 37-point quarter. He scored a season-high 31 points to go with seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals prior to fouling out with 27.8 left in the game.
DeRozan finished with 32 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals. LaMarcus Aldridge had 21 points and nine rebounds in the loss.
Prior to James’ fourth-quarter eruption, the Spurs had an eight-point lead following DeRozan’s free throws that he shot with 8:46 left in the game.
The bench for Los Angeles outscored San Antonio’s bench 30-25 led by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope who finished the game with 12 points. Caldwell-Pope made free throws for the Lakers to extend their lead to eight with 34.2 seconds left.
Brandon Ingram logged just under 5:30 minutes of play in the first quarter due to a left ankle injury when Aldridge committed a flagrant foul on him. Ingram left the game with five points.
Los Angeles scored 20 points out on the fast break in contrast to San Antonio’s 10 points. The Lakers had a 47.7 field goal percentage as the Spurs shot 44.8 percent from the field. Both teams overall were not great from three-point range, though the Lakers’ 35.9 percentage was better than the Spurs who had a 25.9 percentage in the game.
To go with his 42 points, James also had five rebounds, six assists, and two steals. Kuzma finished with 22 points, nine rebounds, and five assists.
Lonzo Ball had 14 points on 3-6 three-pointers, four rebounds, nine assists, and two steals. Ball made a three-point shot to give the Lakers a five-point lead with 2:36 left in the game.
This win for Los Angeles ends their four-game homestand undefeated, beating Indiana, Dallas, Phoenix, and now San Antonio. Los Angeles moves to 15-9 on the season and fifth place in the Western Conference.
The Lakers will head to San Antonio to play the Spurs again on Friday at 5:30 p.m. PT.
