LeBron James made the tying layup with 0.8 seconds left in regulation before scoring four of his 22 points in overtime, and the Los Angeles Lakers surged to a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series with a 117-111 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night.
Austin Reaves scored 23 points and Anthony Davis had five of his 17 in overtime for the seventh-seeded Lakers, who are on the brink of their first playoff series victory outside the Florida bubble since 2012.
Los Angeles surged back from a seven-point deficit with five minutes left in regulation with a rally that abruptly began when D’Angelo Russell hit three consecutive 3-pointers, and the Lakers never trailed in OT.
Desmond Bane scored 36 points and hit a tie breaking layup with 6.7 seconds left in regulation for the second-seeded Grizzlies, who will have to rally from a 3-1 series deficit and win a Game 7 for the first time in franchise history to advance.
Ja Morant scored 19 points with his injured right hand, but Davis blocked his jumper at the regulation buzzer. The Grizzlies then missed six of their first eight shots in overtime while committing two key turnovers.
James, who also had 20 rebounds, coolly scored the basket that forced overtime over heavy defensive pressure, and he hit a huge layup while getting fouled to put the Lakers up by five with 29.1 seconds to play. Dennis Schroder and Austin Reaves buried two free throws apiece to seal the Lakers’ 12th win in 15 games dating to the regular season.
Game 5 is Wednesday night in Memphis.
Davis didn’t look sharp for much of Game 4 while struggling with an apparent hip injury that required a heating pad on the bench, but he blocked four shots, and the Lakers excelled whenever the big man was protecting the rim.
Dillon Brooks had 11 points for Memphis after getting ejected from Game 3 for striking James in the groin.
Morant’s 45-point performance in Game 3 wasn’t enough to dig the Grizzlies out of an early 29-point hole in his first game back from an injury absence with a sore right hand. He reacted with obvious pain after he jammed the hand into the ground again during the second half of Game 4, but kept playing and even dunked on Rui Hachimura an instant before the third-quarter buzzer.
The Grizzlies fell behind by an NBA record-tying 26 points after a historically bad first quarter in Game 3, but they dramatically improved their start in Game 4. The Lakers still jumped out to a 15-point lead in the first half before Memphis got back in it with a big surge to close the first half.
LeBron leads Lakers to OT victory for 3-1 series lead against Grizzlies.
