INDIANAPOLIS – LeBron James began the fourth quarter Wednesday, where there is a risk that he will not extend the NBA record for consecutive double-digit scoring games.
He finished it with yet another best accomplishment.
James, 40, scored a 13-point final with a buzzer-stabbing tip-in, giving the Los Angeles Lakers a 120-119 victory over the Indiana Pacers, and did not extend his double-digit scoring streak to 1,283. It wasn't James counting.
“Whatever it takes to help your teammates win,” James said after a review of the replay confirmed a basket of victory. “I can do other things to influence the game. That's the beauty of my game. I've always been three-dimensional, I've been able to get my people involved, rebound, defend and sprinkle some points here and there, and I've built my whole life.”
The league's career scoring leader has done more than sprinkling his points, especially against the Pacers.
And the same was true on Wednesday. He flirted with a triple double finish with 13 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists despite being 4 out of 12 from the field with 3 pointers and 0 at 0 at 0 at 0 at 0 at 0 at 13 points.
And this time it seemed that the Pacers might have the advantage over their old archenemies.
They fired him 0-for-6 with three points from the first three quarters, kicking the ball out of his hand as Luka Donsic and Austin Reeves delivered the points. Suddenly, the statistician checked James' lowest single game field goal totals and looked back at his last single digit game, an eight-point effort against Milwaukee on January 5, 2007.
However, James re-emerged as it appears that history will be made when the Pacers return to near 95-92 after three-quarters of a deficit of 17 points.
“Obviously I know I can get the ball,” he said. “But until you find a little rhythm offensively, or in some cases, the defender is most important to the ball club.”
James put his first basket in 49 seconds in the fourth quarter. His next one came in 37 seconds. Two free throws and driving layups were then made, scoring 11 points, and the Lakers took a 105-92 lead in about a 9th minute.
It didn't last long.
The Pacers charged twice more, taking the lead in 42.2 seconds on a three-point play from Tyrees Halliburton. It gave Indiana a 119-118 lead, putting the risk of losing the struggling Lakers for the fourth straight.
James refused to let it wake, but Donsic took a midrange shot that bouncing off the rim when the clock went out. And then James came from nowhere.
“I was just trying to read the ball from the rim,” James said. “It looked a little short, but I knew I had the opportunity to bounce back when it hits the front rim, and once, I wanted to tap it for plenty of time.
And yet another frustrating chapter of the rivalry with the Pacers eliminated the Pacers twice in the Eastern Conference Finals during their time with Miami, and two more times in the first round after returning to Cleveland.
“This is the first time I've walked in the NBA), and perhaps it's fitting,” Pacer guard Tyreese Halliburton said after chatting with James after the game. “It was clearly a great play by a great player.”
