LEBRON James beat the shot clock with a 34-foot, tiebreaking 3-pointer with 58.2 seconds remaining Wednesday night (Thursday in Manila), sending the Los Angeles Lakers to a 103-100 victory over the visiting Golden State Warriors in a Western Conference play-in game.
The victory gives the Lakers the seventh seed in the West playoffs main draw and a first-round matchup with the second-seeded Phoenix Suns in a series that begins Sunday (Monday in Manila).
The Warriors, who finished eighth in the regular season, will get a second shot at a playoff berth, but they now must beat No. 9 Memphis in San Francisco on Friday (Saturday in Manila).
The Grizzlies earned the right to face the Warriors in the win-or-go-home game by beating the 10th-seeded San Antonio Spurs 100-96 earlier.
Down 55-42 at halftime, the Lakers rallied within 79-77 by the third quarter’s end and then into a lead early in the fourth period.
However, the Warriors, who finished the regular season with six consecutive wins, forged one last tie at 100-all on two Stephen Curry free throws with 1:23 remaining.
That’s when James, standing well outside the 3-point arc, took a pass late in the shot clock and threw up a desperation attempt that went through the hoop and gave Los Angeles the lead for good.
The Warriors had two chances to tie, but Jordan Poole misfired on a 3-point attempt with 35.5 seconds remaining, and Golden State couldn’t get off a shot on a final possession that began when they inbounded the ball with 2.1 seconds to go.
Anthony Davis finished with a team-high 25 points and James had 22 for the Lakers, the defending NBA champions who had just the seventh-best record in the West in the regular season.
James completed a triple-double with 11 rebounds and a game-high 10 assists, while Davis grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds.
In the other game, Jonas Valanciunas recorded 23 points, 23 rebounds and three blocked shots as the Memphis Grizzlies remained alive in their pursuit of a playoff spot with a 100-96 victory over the visiting San Antonio Spurs.
Dillon Brooks scored a game-high 24 points and Ja Morant added 20 for the Grizzlies, who will move on in the Western Conference play-in tournament to face the Golden State Warriors. Golden State lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The winner of Friday’s (Saturday in Manila) game will earn the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoff bracket and face the top-seeded Utah Jazz in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
DeMar DeRozan and Rudy Gay scored 20 points apiece for San Antonio, which will miss the playoffs for the second straight campaign after matching the NBA record with 22 straight appearances. — Field Level Media
