Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James knew what he needed to do when the Denver Nuggets tried to stage a comeback in the fourth quarter of Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals.
Speaking to the media following the Western Conference Finals clinching game, Anthony Davis revealed what LeBron told the team during the fourth quarter when the Nuggets were able to cut the lead to just two after trailing by as much as 16 markers.
“He told us it was his time,” Anthony Davis said of of his Lakers superstar teammate, per Christian Rivas of SB Nation. “They was making a push late in the third and cut it to two and we didn’t really start off in the fourth quarter, didn’t close the third quarter how we wanted to and we didn’t start off good in that fourth. He just took over. He told us it was his time. He told me it was his time.
“You know, he kind of just — everybody just kind of got out of the way and let him be him. He brought it home for us. He’s always capable of doing that. He makes the right plays and makes the right reads, and tonight, you know, the read for him was to get to the basket and finish or make a play, and all of them were good reads and he carried us tonight to get to this point.”
For what it's worth, after LeBron James told Davis and the Lakers that it was his time, he completely took over. In fact, he scored nine points in succession in the closing stages of the game to allow the Purple and Gold to pull away for good.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever witnessed a guy take over the game the way he did in the fourth quarter tonight in person,” head coach Frank Vogel added. “It was remarkable. Doing what he’s doing on the defensive end is always — last game, too. He takes the assignment of guarding their hottest player, wins that game for us. Obviously, taking over down the stretch, possession after possession after possession of big shots, big plays. Just a remarkable performance.”
This type of performance is exactly what the Lakers need from LeBron going into the NBA Finals if they want to win the franchise's 17th championship. LeBron looks like he is up for the challenge, though.