James gave a magical night
Crypto.com Stadium was on its feet in a deafening atmosphere and everyone turned to LeBron James as the Los Angeles Lakers sealed the overtime victory, 117-111 over the Memphis Grizzlies, in Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs on Monday night.
“I’ve always been like, whatever it takes for the team to be successful, I’ll do it. I was trying to be as big as I could be on offense, but also on defense. I was able to make a couple of crucial plays to win,” LeBron James told the media after his 22-point, 20-rebound night in 45 minutes of play.
To size things up, LeBron James in his 20th NBA season at age 38, had a night of at least 20 points and 20 rebounds for the first time in his career. The ‘King’ LeBron continues to break records, having never in his more than 1,600 games played had a postseason game with 20 rebounds. In fact, the last Angeleno player to have a 20-20 game in the playoffs was Shaquille O’Neal in 2004.
LeBron James in dominant mode was an absolute leader for the team with crucial baskets for the final victory. With his final touchdown, LeBron celebrated towards the crowd in attendance by flexing his muscles and screaming furiously.
“There’s different moments in games, there’s some plays that are the ones that are the killers, the final lunge and that play, that last basket was like that. You can make that one-and-one (with the foul) and that pretty much closed the door for the rest of the game. The emotion came out. The fans were absolutely brilliant for the second game in a row,” LeBron shared.
The “King’s” entire family was at the stadium and was able to celebrate with LeBron the electrifying Creole victory. After the game, his children Zhuri, Bronny and Bryce shot baskets on the court while waiting for their father, under the watchful eye of their mother, Savannah.
In a great collective effort by the Lakers team, coupled with LeBron’s leadership, the Angelenos have taken a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. On Wednesday, the series continues with Game 5 in Memphis.
