The Los Angeles Lakers badly needed a win coming into Wednesday night’s road contest against the Indiana Pacers. LeBron James had one of his worst games of the season for most of the night before coming alive in the fourth quarter and capping off the night with a heroic buzzer-beating tip-in to give the Lakers a 120-119 win.
LEBRON JAMES TIPS IT IN AT THE BUZZER FOR THE LAKERS WIN
LA snaps their 3-game losing streak.pic.twitter.com/TzB9WyzbvD
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 27, 2025
James has consistently been clutch for all of his teams throughout his career, and now he is even closer to setting the record for game-winning buzzer-beaters. With this basket, he tied Kobe Bryant and Joe Johnson with eight and now only trails Michael Jordan with nine, according to SportsNet Stats.
The Lakers took a 118-112 lead with just about two minutes to go thanks to a pair of Rui Hachimura 3-pointers, and all looked well with the purple and gold. However, James and company immediately took their foot off the gas on the defensive end off the floor, allowing the Pacers to rattle off seven points in a row to take a 119-118 lead.
After Luka Doncic’s floater in the final seconds bounced softly off the rim, James was right there for the putback after the Pacers failed to box him out.
This is a massive win for a Lakers squad that came into this game on a three-game losing streak, all against Eastern Conference teams. That slide included a 31-point loss at home against the Chicago Bulls, so the Lakers will be thrilled to have gotten back on track in this one.
The Lakers must now continue to stack up the wins in order to secure a top four seed in the West heading into the playoffs. After James’ heroics in Indiana, the Lakers are now into a tie for fourth place with the Memphis Grizzlies and are just a half-game behind the Denver Nuggets for the third spot as the Nuggets finish up their game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Lakers have shown that, with James and Luka Doncic in the lineup together, they are a very formidable group capable of reaching very high highs together. If they can earn a strong draw in the playoffs over the next few weeks, they will have a chance to make a run in the postseason.
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