LOS ANGELES — LeBron James scored 19 of his 34 points during a brilliant fourth quarter, leading the Lakers back from a 21-point deficit for a dramatic 116-112 victory over the Clippers on Wednesday night.
Kawhi Leonard missed a 12-footer with five seconds to play, and James threw a long pass to Cam Reddish for a dunk that punctuated a stunning victory for the Lakers in the rivals’ final regular-season game as Crypto.com Arena co-tenants.
The 39-year-old James was the center of it all, hitting five of his season-high seven 3-pointers while outscoring the Clippers by himself in the fourth quarter (19-16). He either scored or assisted on 11 of the Lakers’ 13 baskets in the final period and finished 13 for 21 from the field (7 for 12 from behind the arc) with six rebounds and eight assists.
Leonard scored 26 points, seven rebounds and six assists and James Harden had 23 points and nine assists for the Clippers, who have lost back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 23. The Clippers played without All-Star Paul George, who missed his second straight game with a sore left knee, and starting center Ivica Zubac, who was ill.
The Clippers led 98-77 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, but James led a 29-8 run in just 7:34. Anthony Davis’ free throws tied it 106-106 with four minutes to play, and James found Rui Hachimura for a go-ahead 3-pointer moments later.
D’Angelo Russell’s 3-pointer put the Lakers up 114-108 with 1:12 to play, but Harden and Leonard scored on drives to the basket while James missed a pair of shots for the Lakers. But Leonard’s last shot was off target, and James found Reddish for the capper to the delight of the thousands of Lakers fans in attendance at a “road” game.
The Lakers (32-28) won three of four over the Clippers (37-20) this season, winning the season series for the first time since 2011-12.
Davis had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers, while Russell had 18 and Hachimura added 17.
Terance Mann finished with 16 points, six rebounds and two assists for the Clippers, while Norman Powell added 14 points.
Speaking before the game, Lakers coach Darvin Ham wasn’t letting the absence of George or Zubac lull him or his team into any misguided overconfidence.
“They still have (James) Harden, they still have Kawhi (Leonard), they still have Powell, they still have Russ (Westbrook),” Ham said.
And Ham wasn’t done going down the list.
“(Amir) Coffey has been playing well. (Daniel) Theis is very experienced, a very capable veteran. I mean. They still have a lot of firepower,” Ham said. “The tendency to relax needs to not even exist,” Ham said.
Ham was right to be concerned about the Clippers players who did suit up. The Clippers made the game uncomfortable for the Lakers for much of the night, leading by double digits as early as the second quarter.
The Clippers had extended their lead to 19 points at the end of the third quarter. With Austin Reaves draped all over him, Powell buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Clippers a 96-77 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Clippers displayed an aggressiveness that had been missing their previous three games and built their early lead by outhustling the Lakers without turning over the ball, a source of frustration lately for Coach Tyronn Lue.
In their past seven games, the Clippers slid from seventh in the league to 29th in turnover ratio with 13.3 per game.
In three previous games against the Lakers this season, though, the Clippers had forced 16.0 turnovers a game. The Clippers still managed to force the Lakers into 17 turnovers, but also made their share with 12.
After a close first quarter, the Clippers broke open the game in the second and led 56-42 at the half, despite the Lakers shooting 53.3% from the field. That, and the fact they limited their turnovers to eight in the first 24 minutes, which enabled them to get closeouts.
Lue has preached the need for building good habits for months. And mostly the team has listened, constructing winning streaks that put them in a comfortable spot heading into the final 20 games and giving them some wiggle room in the win-loss column.
“You’re not going to play great for 82 games,” Lue said. “We understand that, and you have to understand that. But you can still play the right way, you can still build good habits.
“You’re not going to make shots every night, you’re not going to have energy every single night, but you need to do things the right way every single night. That has to be our mindset. We understand that.”
END OF AN ERA
The Clippers and Lakers moved into the building long known as Staples Center – along with the NHL’s Kings – when it opened in 1999. The NBA franchises shared their home for the next 25 years, usually facing each other four times annually in a rivalry known as the Hallway Series because their locker rooms are about 100 feet apart in the same corridor.
The era ends this fall when the Clippers move into Intuit Dome, owner Steve Ballmer’s lavish new arena in Inglewood. Ballmer decided the Clippers needed their own home to complete their move out of the shadows of the Lakers’ 17 NBA championships and the accompanying banners on the walls of the shared arena, and the billionaire quickly got it done.
The balance of power in the region still tilts completely in the Lakers’ direction, but the Clippers have made progress: They’ve finished with a better record than the Lakers in 10 of the last 11 seasons, failing only in 2020 when the Lakers won their 17th title.
The teams could always meet in a playoff series, but that’s never happened.
More to come on this story.