LeBron James’ 22-20 night leads Los Angeles Lakers over Memphis Grizzlies in OT
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LeBron James (left) of the Los Angeles Lakers makes a shot against the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA play-offs, on April 24, 2023.
PHOTO: AFP
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LOS ANGELES – LeBron James always gets the praise from teammates and his coaches, but with the performance he had on Monday night, he thoroughly deserves all the plaudits.
The star forward scored 22 points – including a layup to force overtime and another late in the extra period – as the Los Angeles Lakers earned a 117-111 victory over the visiting Memphis Grizzlies to build a 3-1 lead in the National Basketball Association (NBA) Western Conference play-offs.
He added a career-high 20 rebounds while Austin Reaves scored 23 points for the seventh seeds, who have their first chance to eliminate the Grizzlies in Game 5 on Wednesday at Memphis.
The last Laker to put up 20-plus points and 20-plus rebounds in a play-off game was Shaquille O’Neal in 2004.
“He just took over down the stretch,” Anthony Davis said of James. “Got us a bucket to get to overtime. But all our guys, it was a good team effort. This team are not going to go away.
“It was a must-win game for us, and we played well down the stretch and just covered for one another.”
D’Angelo Russell added 17 points for the Lakers, sinking three key three-pointers in the fourth quarter before fouling out.
Davis was held to 12 points while dealing with hip discomfort after a second-quarter injury. However, he scored five points in overtime and wound up with 11 rebounds.
James made a layup with 0.8 seconds remaining in regulation and sealed the victory on another layup with 29.4 seconds left in overtime when he was fouled by Dillon Brooks. He missed the ensuing free throw but gave Los Angeles a 113-108 advantage.
“We had a next-play, refuse-to-quit mentality. I’m so proud of our guys, the way we fought,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “We found a way.”
On James, he added: “He’s been making the right play his whole career... That’s just him doing whatever it takes to put us in a position to succeed.”
Desmond Bane scored 36 points and Ja Morant added 19 for the second-seeded Grizzlies, who are 0-3 in the series with Morant on the floor. Memphis earned a 103-93 victory in Game 2 when he was out with a sore right hand.
Morant aggravated his injury in the third quarter on Monday but remained in the game.
Jaren Jackson Jr amassed 14 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks for Memphis, while Xavier Tillman added 12 points.
In other play-off news, Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray was suspended one game without pay by the NBA on Monday after clashing with a referee following his team’s Game 4 loss to Boston.
The incident took place at the end of Boston’s 129-121 victory in Atlanta on Sunday, which gave the Celtics a 3-1 edge in their Eastern Conference play-off series. REUTERS, AFP
