After being down in the fourth quarter by 12 points, the Los Angeles Lakers managed an impressive comeback win against the Phoenix Suns thanks to a late rally led by LeBron James. The Lakers won 100-95.
James nearly outscored the Suns singlehandedly in the fourth quarter, in which the score was Suns 28-11, with James scoring ten points alone.
According to James, the comeback began once coach Darvin Ham asked if he could go the whole fourth quarter.
“He asked me if I could go the [whole] quarter, and I looked at the time and the score and what was going on in the game, and it was an easy answer for myself,” James said. “I know how much work I’ve put in to be able to play quarters or whatever the case may be. And I understand that we definitely have a system put in place, but tonight called for me to go outside the box.”
To help with rest for LeBron, who is now 38 years old, Ham called three timeouts in the fourth quarter. The Lakers were also granted two more timeouts by the Suns.
Anthony Davis also contributed to the comeback with 13 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter. It was a better showing for him as he went scoreless in the second half against the Lakers loss to the Denver Nuggets.
In regards to criticism against Davis, James defended his teammate.
“We don’t give a s— about criticism about A.D.,” he said. “We don’t care. Nothing bothers us. A.D. doesn’t care. I don’t know if guys have figured that out. A.D. does not care. He’s not on social media. So he doesn’t see that crap. He rarely talks, unless it’s to us.”
The Lakers, who are now 1-1, face the Sacramento Kings away on October 29.
