PHOENIX — JJ Redick is a self-proclaimed “basketball sicko.” So naturally, the Lakers coach would find beauty in the chaos of his team building a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, losing it in a maze of turnovers and missed shots to then clawing out a 116-114 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday behind clutch free throws from LeBron James.
“It’s gonna sound sick: I love winning games like this,” Redick said with a slight smile. “… Winning ugly is actually really fun because it means you got in the trenches and you fought.”
Ugly was only one way to describe the win that featured five technicals, one ejection, and a 20-point fourth-quarter lead that evaporated into a one-point deficit with 12.2 seconds remaining when Dillon Brooks hit what looked like a dagger three-pointer over James.
Brooks, known as one of the league’s top antagonists, hurried to his feet then bumped chests with James, resulting in a technical foul. Brooks had also been jawing with James in the first quarter, and he was ejected for his second technical. James, who also picked up a technical in the third, stepped to the line to shoot the tying free throw.
He missed.
Redick said Luka Doncic, who finished with a team-high 29 points and made 13 of 14 free throws, should have shot the free throw. James didn’t hesitate.
“Why wouldn’t I?” said James, who scored 26 points. “I mean, I’d have been OK with Luka taking it, too. We’ve both been in pressure situations, but I just took it. I mean, unfortunately, I missed it, but I made up for it.”
James still hit the game-winning free throws with 3.9 seconds remaining after drawing a foul on Devin Booker while attempting a three. He made two of the three free throws then blocked Grayson Allen’s shot with 0.7 seconds remaining to seal the Lakers’ ninth clutch-time win of the season.
Despite playing without Austin Reaves, who missed the game because of a calf strain, the Lakers (18-7) remained undefeated in games within five points in the final five minutes, a perfect record unmatched by any other team.
“We stood together,” forward Jarred Vanderbilt said. “… We didn’t panic and that’s the reason we’re 9-0 [in clutch games]. We go over late game situations in practice a lot, being able to see it [and] execute in real time is just a testament to the whole group.”
In his first significant playing time in more than a month, Vanderbilt led a tenacious bench that James said “won us the game tonight.” Vanderbilt, who had fallen out of the rotation since James returned from his 14-game absence because of sciatica, had seven points, seven rebounds, two steals, a block and one major, fourth-quarter three-pointer.
After getting only seven points off the bench in their loss to the San Antonio Spurs last week, the Lakers had 30 on Sunday, led by Jaxson Hayes’ 12 points and nine rebounds. Jake LaRavia added six points, eight rebounds, two steals and one block.
Hustle plays from LaRavia and Hayes powered the Lakers to a 15-0 run in the third quarter, highlighted by a ferocious two-handed dunk from Hayes. LaRavia intercepted a pass from Ryan Dunn and started the fastbreak, pausing in the paint to shovel a pass to Hayes, who cocked the ball behind his head before slamming it over Oso Ighodaro and getting fouled to give the Lakers the lead 80-77 with 2:24 remaining in the third quarter.
A dunk from LaRavia with 8:40 remaining pushed the lead to 20 points. The Lakers then let loose too early as Marcus Smart turned the ball over with a careless backwards pass over his head. Instead of taking what could have been an easy layup, Smart, who saw Vanderbilt trailing the play and thought he wanted to reward the hard-working big man, blindly tossed the ball straight to Allen. Brooks sparked the Suns comeback with a three on the next possession.
The roar from the crowd built as the Suns (14-12) sliced into the lead. They cut it to nine, the Lakers pushed it back to 14. Fans dressed in Lakers colors piped up, then sat down as the Suns grabbed momentum back. With James standing at the free-throw line in the final seconds as the road crowd reached its peak, center Deandre Ayton, who finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds, paused to listen.
“Hearing the environment, hearing how the oohs and the ahhs, people knowing the outcome if you make these shots,” Ayton said, “yeah, it was a movie again.”
The crowd’s roar continued even as James dropped behind the tunnel’s curtain.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
