The Los Angeles Lakers managed to secure a clutch victory over the Indiana Pacers. Forward LeBron James attributes the team's win to their performance in the fourth quarter.
Impressive close-out performances have been difficult to come by for the Lakers in the 2017-18 NBA season. James said that their play down the stretch against the Pacers may have been the best thus far, via Ryan Ward of ClutchPoints:
LeBron James on if that was their best 4th qtr: “Yeah, I think so. We kept everybody in front of us. We ran their shooters off the line. Bogdanovic, ran him off the line. McDermott, ran him off the line as well. Tried to make them play in the paint.”
There is certainly plenty of truth to James' comments. Los Angeles had gotten off to a stellar start, however, cooled off considerably going into halftime. Fortunately, they were ultimately able to get back on track down the stretch to secure the 104-96 victory and win their fans tacos in the process.
James enjoyed another stellar performance against Indiana. He finished with 38 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists in 38 minutes. More importantly, they were able to do just as James mentioned by limiting the production of small forwards Bojan Bogdanovich and Doug McDermott. The Lakers limited their opportunities to shoot from deep after combining to go 4-of-8.
James has largely struggled to find a balance between playing within the offense and taking over at times this season. However, that was not the case versus the Pacers when the Lakers were on the verge of surrendering their tremendous lead. Regardless, clutch performances like these are an encouraging sign for this team moving forward. Los Angeles will have a chance to put together a more complete game against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.
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