LeBron James entered the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ road game against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night without a made field goal. It was only the second time in his career that he had gone through three full quarters without making a shot. The first time was on Dec 29, 2004 — during James’ second NBA season.
It turned out he was just saving his best for last.
Just before the buzzer sounded at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, James tipped in a Luka Doncic miss to give the Lakers a dramatic and much-needed 120-119 win to snap a three-game losing streak.
After getting a key defensive stop with 10 seconds to play, the Lakers decided not to call a timeout and rushed the ball up the floor. James had it in the corner and could have forced up a shot, but saw a double team coming and kicked it out to Doncic, who drove and got a great look. His floater rolled off the rim, but did so softly enough that James was able to tip it back in just before time expired.
“To be honest I don’t know how it felt because I was trying to look at the jumbotron to see if I got it off,” James said in his postgame interview with ESPN.
James, whose historic double-digit scoring streak appeared to be in jeopardy entering the fourth quarter, finished with 13 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. He has now scored in double figures in 1,283 consecutive games, which is 417 more than Michael Jordan, who is in second place on that list.
Speaking of Jordan, he is now the only player with more career buzzer beaters than James, who registered his eighth on Wednesday.
