LOS ANGELES – LeBron James scored four of his 22 points in overtime before making the tying layup with 0.8 seconds left in regulation and the Los Angeles Lakers taking a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series, 117-111. A victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night.
James also grabbed a career playoff-high 20 rebounds and added seven assists and two blocked shots while committing just one turnover in his 270th playoff game, extending his own NBA record. He became the first Lakers player since Shaquille O’Neal in 2004 to have 20 points and 20 rebounds in a playoff game.
At 38 years and 115 days old, James is the oldest player ever with a 20-point, 20-rebound game, including the regular season and playoffs.
“He just took over down the stretch,” Anthony Davis said of James. “We got a bucket to do overtime. … All our guys, it was a good team effort. This team is not going away.”
Austin Reaves scored 23 points and Davis scored five of his 12 points in overtime for the seventh-seeded Lakers, who won two straight home games to edge their first playoff series victory outside the Florida bubble since 2012.
Los Angeles battled back from a seven-point deficit with five minutes left in regulation with a rally that suddenly began when D’Angelo Russell hit three consecutive 3-pointers and the Lakers never trailed in OT.
“I’m very proud of our guys, the way we battled,” Lakers coach Darwin Hamm said. “We found a way.”
James now has eight game-tying or go-ahead field goals within the final 5 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime for his playoff career, twice as many as any other player in the last 25 postseasons. Kobe Bryant has the most with four.
Game 5 is Wednesday night in Memphis.
Desmond Bain scored 36 points and hit a tiebreaking layup with 6.7 seconds left in regulation for the second-seeded Grizzlies, who must rally from a 3-1 series deficit and win Game 7 to advance for the first time in franchise history.
Ja Morant scored 19 points with his injured right hand, but Davis blocked his jumper at the regulation buzzer. The Grizzlies then missed six of their first eight shots in overtime while committing two key turnovers.
Dillon Brooks, who dismissed James as “old” after Game 2, had 11 points for Memphis after being forced out of Game 3 with a hit to the groin.
James coolly scored at the basket under heavy defensive pressure to force overtime, and hit a huge layup after being fouled to put the Lakers ahead by five with 29.1 seconds to play in OT. Dennis Schroder and Reaves each buried two free throws to seal the Lakers’ 12th win in 15 regular season games.
The Lakers trailed for much of the second half, and Davis didn’t look sharp for much of Game 4 while struggling with an apparent hip injury that required a heating pad on the bench. But Davis blocked four shots, and the Lakers excelled whenever the big man was protecting the rim.
Morant’s 45-point performance in Game 3 wasn’t enough to dig the Grizzlies out of an early 29-point hole in his first game back from an absence with a right hand injury. He then reacted with obvious pain after jamming his hand into the ground again in the second half of Game 4, but continued to play and dunked on Rui Hachimura just before the third-quarter buzzer.
The Grizzlies fell behind by an NBA record-tying 26 points after a historically bad first quarter in Game 3, but they dramatically improved their start in Game 4. The Lakers still jumped out to a 15-point lead in the first half before Memphis got by. Back into it with a big surge to close the first half.
ESPN Stats & Info and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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