LeBron James Impact on the Lakers NBA Finals Win: The Big Mans Unyielding Energy and Clutch Play
LOS ANGELES — The Lakers' home crowd was buzzing with excitement as they took on the Nets in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. After a slow start in the first quarter, the Lakers found their footing in the second period, thanks in large part to the play of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Despite being the first finals game in Los Angeles in 10 years, the energy in the arena was palpable. But then LeBron James went to work.
In the first four minutes of the second quarter, the Lakers went on a 17-4 run, taking their first lead of the finals since the first quarter of Game 2. In that time, James recorded six points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal — a dominant stretch of play that brought a rowdy home crowd to its feet.
"He's a guy that inspires a lot of people," Lakers coach Frank Vogel said postgame. "He inspires our team a lot."
"His energy is unbelievable," guard Malik Beasley said. "You guys know he's definitely a crowd favorite. He does a great job of bringing energy in this building."
James' energy boost and clutch play played a critical role in the Lakers' 118-107 win, which also gave them a 2-1 lead in a series that many expect them to win. James finished the game with 30 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, the first player in NBA history to post those numbers in a finals game. He was also a plus-15 in only 35 minutes.
Three of James' six assists came via what's become his signature play — finding open teammates for easy buckets. Two of those assists led to points for the Lakers, including a game-tying bucket in the fourth quarter, and all of them drew huge reactions from the crowd.
James, who is listed at 6'9", is one of the tallest players in the finals. But despite his size, his impact was outsized.
"In a series like this what's so important is the margins," Beasley said. "You have to win in the margins. It's not necessarily who can make the most shots or anything. It's taking care of the ball, rebounding, little things like that. ... He [James] did a great job of consistently getting there and making hustle play after hustle play, and sticking with it, and I thought we did a great job of just feeding off of what he was doing."
The entire Lakers bench, in particular, seemed to feed off James. The Lakers' backups made a massive difference in Game 3, outscoring the Nets reserves 47-23. Lakers guard Wayne Ellington was the game's leading scorer, racking up 24 points in only 27 minutes.
A 17-year veteran in his 19th season with the Lakers, James has always been the type of player to make the most of his opportunity. He hasn't missed more than three games in a season since 2013, and he's never averaged fewer than 25 points a night in his career. On Wednesday, though, he changed the course of the game, and perhaps even the series.
"He's been like a big brother to me since I've gotten here," Beasley said. "You look at LeBron James and his story is unbelievable. So I just enjoy being able to play alongside him and the energy he gives his teammates in this building is — he's a lot of fun."
