LeBron Hit A Logo Three Over Steph To Beat The Warriors In A Thrilling Play-In Game

The fourth game of the NBA’s play-in tournament was the clear main event as the Lakers played host to the Warriors for the chance to win the 7-seed in the West and earn a date with the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs.

Early on, the superstars who headlined the matchup struggled, as it was Kent Bazemore and Andrew Wiggins who helped Golden State to an early lead, while the Lakers trio of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Dennis Schröder couldn’t buy a bucket.

Eventually, Stephen Curry got it rolling on his way to 37 points. Once he did, the Warriors were able to run out to a 13-point halftime lead, as Curry capped the half off with a patently absurd three at the buzzer.

The third quarter saw the Lakers finally get it going, as Frank Vogel finally went to a small lineup with Davis, who led the Lakers with 25 points, at the five, allowing L.A. to move better defensively, get out and run, and create more space offensively. With that space, LeBron — who finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists — came to life as a playmaker by orchestrating what had been, to that point, a rather lifeless Laker offense and getting some big buckets of his own.

The LeBron-Steph duel the world had hoped for came to fruition down the stretch of the third, with both players trading blows as L.A. closed the Warrior lead to just two at 79-77.

The fourth quarter began all Lakers, as they had sprung to life with an 8-0 run to open the final period, taking their first lead of the game at 81-79 with 11 minutes to go and opening that up to 85-79 to force a Warriors timeout.

However, Curry and the Warriors had an answer, making their own run to tie the game at 93-93.

After a Lakers bucket to take the lead back, Golden State jumped in front thanks to a terrific find from Draymond Green to Jordan Poole for three, with Steph adding to that lead with another drive for a floater after.

From there it was back and forth into the final minute, with LeBron giving L.A. a 103-100 lead with a logo three in the face of Steph Curry as the shot clock expired on a desperation look.

Jordan Poole got an open look to tie in the corner, but couldn’t knock it down and after an empty possession from the Lakers, the Warriors for some reason didn’t call timeout off the rebound or once the Lakers trapped Curry in the backcourt and didn’t get a timeout called until 2.1 seconds remained. On the final inbounds play, the Warriors couldn’t get a shot off as the pass to Curry bounced off his hands into the backcourt and the Lakers escaped with a massive comeback win, 103-100 to secure the 7-seed and meet Phoenix in the first round.

The Warriors will go back home and host the Grizzlies on Friday for a shot at the 8-seed and a meeting with the Jazz, needing to regroup after a sensational performance that came up just short.