The Los Angeles Lakers faced the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday in the final game between the two teams at Crypto.com Arena before the Clippers move to their own arena next season. The Lakers came in with a 31-28 record, which put them in 10th place in the Western Conference, and they badly need wins in order to improve their chances of making the playoffs.

After a close first quarter, the Clippers opened up a 14-point lead with 4:09 left in the second quarter with the help of advantages in free throws and forced turnovers. They led by 14 at halftime as the Lakers couldn’t stymie them or force them out of their preferred actions on offense. After the Lakers made a mini-rally early in the third period, the Clippers pushed their lead to 18 and led by 19 at the end of three quarters on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Norman Powell.

It looked like the Purple and Gold were dead in the water. But that’s when LeBron James happened.

With him making play after play, the Lakers gulped away at their deficit, and the Clippers gradually lost their swagger. The Lakers finally took a 109-106 lead with 3:10 remaining, and they never looked back. Even when their lead went from six to two with 36 seconds left, they came up with a clutch defensive stop to preserve a 116-112 victory.

Ever since the 2012-13 season, the Clippers have won the vast majority of their games versus the Lakers. But thanks to this win, the Lakers took the 2023-24 season series against them three games to one.

It was a nice way for the Purple and Gold to bounce back from a weak loss on Sunday to the Phoenix Suns in which they got badly outrebounded and outscored from the free throw line.

For a change, the Lakers outrebounded their opponents, and they also had the edge in 3-pointers. They shot 14-of-36 from downtown compared to 10-of-37 for the Clippers, and in the fourth quarter, they made a whopping nine treys compared to just one for the Clippers.

This game was yet another example of how the Lakers can beat any team in the NBA when they play hard and play up to their ability.

Anthony Davis: B/B-plus

As usual, Davis started the game strong with eight points, two blocked shots and one steal in the first quarter before picking up his second foul with just over a minute left in the period. Although he was quiet offensively afterward and didn’t even attempt a single shot in the fourth quarter, he made his impact felt.

He got four key rebounds in the final five minutes and change to bolster the Lakers’ comeback, and in all, he had 12 rebounds and 20 points. He also blocked three shots and added two steals to help his team’s cause.

Rui Hachimura: B-plus/A-minus

Hachimura was assertive in the first half. Even though he missed all three of his 3-point attempts during that time, he scored 10 points, and he had a monster dunk on Terance Mann about midway through the second quarter.

He then made the 3-pointer that gave the Lakers their first lead of the second half, and moments later, he hit a reverse layup to put them ahead by five.

The forward finished with 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting in 29 minutes. When he is this aggressive, both on and off the ball, it makes them a significantly better team.

Austin Reaves: B

Reaves was hustling fairly hard at times on Wednesday. In the third quarter, he had back-to-back fast-break buckets off turnovers, and in general, he made a nice effort defensively and in transition.

He shot 6-of-11, giving him 13 points, and he added eight rebounds and five assists in 36 minutes.

D’Angelo Russell: B-plus

Russell was quiet until late in the first quarter, but despite being more assertive in the second period, he was only able to score seven points in the first half.

He was far more efficient afterward though. While he took just three shots in the second half, he made all of them, and two of them were 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Lakers’ rally, including a cold-blooded one that put them up 114-108 with 1:12 left.

Russell finished with 18 points and six assists while shooting 6-of-10 overall and 3-of-6 from downtown.

King LeBron James: A-plus

James had 15 points through three quarters, but he turned into the Hulk afterward. He hit three 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter to spark the Lakers’ big rally, and in all, he hit five treys during the period while shooting 7-of-12 and scoring 19 points. He finished the game with 34 points and six rebounds.

When the Clippers tried sending a second defender at him in the fourth period, he fed teammates such as Russell and Hachimura for open shots, giving him four assists in the period and eight for the game.

James was also active on the defensive end. He helped force a key Clippers turnover in the fourth quarter, and he had two chasedown block attempts, although one of them resulted in a goaltending violation.

This performance was a reminder that even after all these years, James can still be the best player on the floor for long stretches.