The Los Angeles Lakers have won the city duel with the Clippers powered by LeBron James and after a wild comeback in the fourth quarter. Luka Doncic gives himself a present for his 25th birthday. The NBA on Thursday morning
77:98 shortly after the start of the fourth quarter. Some basketball coaches might already be thinking about the second unit and calling garbage time early. However, the Los Angeles Lakers did not give up in the city duel with the Clippers, with a 39-year-old leading his team to a 116:112 victory that was no longer thought possible.
LeBron James is the eternally young NBA star. The “King” tightened the reins when the game already seemed lost, scoring 19 of his 34 points in Q4 and thus ensuring the turnaround. “The game isn’t over until double figures appear on the scoreboard,” said James after the greatest final quarter comeback of his NBA career, which has now lasted more than 20 years. However, with 32 wins and 28 defeats, the Lakers still have to worry about making the play-offs, while their city rivals remain in fourth place in the Western Conference with 37 wins and 20 defeats.
Theis: “We simply had too many turnovers “
World champion Daniel Theis was among the disappointed after his team’s 8:34 collapse after the siren. The player from Lower Saxony was once again allowed to start and showed good actions early on. In the end, he finished with nine points and five rebounds and concluded: “We simply had too many turnovers in the final quarter. I think the Lakers scored nine points in the first half after we lost possession, but it was 30 in the second half,” said Theis.
In Toronto, the main focus was on Luka Doncic. The Slovenian superstar of the Dallas Mavericks (34-25), who has been with the club for what feels like forever, celebrated his 25th birthday in Canada. Appropriately enough with a whopping triple-double. Doncic added 30 points, 11 rebounds and 16 assists to his box score in the 136:125 victory over the Raptors (22-37), who had previously won three in a row. Kyrie Irving was hardly inferior to his backcourt colleague (29), while Maxi Kleber sat out due to his broken nose.
The Minnesota Timberwolves took the lead in the Western Conference (42-17) with a 110-101 win over the Memphis Grizzlies (20-39). Anthony Edwards was the match-winner in this game (34). Champions Denver Nuggets are hot on the heels of their rivals in the tight top flight, winning 117-96 over the Sacramento Kings (33-25) to move to 40-19. Jamal Murray drove his team to victory with 32 points, Nikola Jokic needed just three quarters for his 19th triple-double of the season (14/14/11).
Drummond collects 26 rebounds
In a wild battle in the East, the Chicago Bulls (28-31) edged the Cleveland Cavaliers (38-20) 132-123 in double overtime. DeMar DeRozan (35 points) was the go-to-guy in the decisive phase of the game. Overall, the Bulls were outstanding on both boards. Andre Drummond (26 rebounds with 17 points) grabbed the majority of the rebounds, 74 in total for the former champion – an NBA season record
