“I’m a winner, and I want to win,” a 37-year-old LeBron James told reporters in a cryptic response after the Los Angeles Lakers’ 112-98 loss to his former team, the Miami Heat.
Now 38, James took matters into his own hands against the Atlanta Hawks, erupting in a birthday special to celebrate his big day in style.
James had 47 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists on Saturday to inspire the Lakers to a come-from-behind 130-121 win.
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While it was the LeBron show, he did get some vital help from the supporting cast, with Russell Westbrook scoring 14 points to go with eight rebounds and 11 assists off the bench.
Thomas Bryant (19 points, 17 rebounds) and Dennis Schroder (12 points, nine assists) also enjoyed productive outings.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham said post-game that James was “right” with his comments after the Heat game and that the production from the supporting cast was proof his message was heard.
There was an early injury scare for Atlanta after Trae Young went down injured with what appeared to be a back injury, having already missed the 108-107 loss to Brooklyn with a calf contusion.
Young was eventually cleared to return though and played a key role in the Hawks’ victory, scoring points to go with three rebounds and eight assists.
It was a tough first quarter for the Lakers, who fell into a 33-23 hole after shooting just 1-for-8 from deep and turning the ball over five times. Even James was struggling, going 1-for-6 from the field in the first.
The Hawks led by as many as 12 points in the opening period, with Austin Reaves and Westbrook combining to score the next five points to cut the deficit to five.
A Bogdan Bogdanovic 3-pointer and floater from Young though helped Atlanta push it back out to 10 points and that quickly became 13 when the second quarter commenced.
It looked like the Lakers were on track for another comprehensive defeat until they flipped the script in the latter stages of the quarter, going on a 20-10 run to close the half.
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James had 10 points and four assists during that run to finish the half with 18 points, five rebounds and eight assists while Bryant had a handy 11 points and nine assists.
The Lakers were finding plenty of success getting to the rim in the second quarter and that continued in the third, paving the way for yet another surge that ended up giving them the lead.
Having trailed by as many as 15 points during the game, L.A. would instead take a 98-95 lead into the final quarter of the game.
The Hawks still held a relatively comfortable 79-70 lead midway through the quarter but were out-scored 28-16 in the final six minutes, with plenty of the Lakers’ lesser names getting involved.
Of course, there was also still plenty of the birthday boy in the third, with James adding 13 points and four rebounds in the quarter.
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Young was doing his part to keep the Hawks afloat too, assisting on two early buckets in the quarter before eight points in the final three minutes to put his stamp on the game.
If there was anything else keeping the Hawks in the game though it was sloppy ball-handling from the Lakers, with Atlanta forcing 15 turnovers for 13 points while committing just six of its own.
In a seesawing fourth quarter which saw both teams regain and then lose the lead, it was James who celebrated his birthday in style to take over late and seal the win.
First it was a 3-pointer to put the Lakers up 117-113 before James grabbed a defensive board and drove towards the basket and drew a foul for a three-point play, making it 120-113 with two minutes left.
Dejounte Murray unleashed from deep to reduce the deficit to four but James was simply unstoppable, adding another basket to build the Lakers’ lead once more.
Murray added another 3-pointer to keep things interesting but a bucket and assist for Russell Westbrook in a matter of eight seconds then saw the score sit at 126-119 with 55 seconds left.
Atlanta then called a timeout in a desperate bid to find a way to rescue the result. Young went on to make a jump shot but Schroder answered back and James then finished it off with a pair of free throws to ice a memorable win for the Lakers.