LOS ANGELES — The phrase Anthony Davis used to describe the run LeBron James went on during the Lakers’ 21-point comeback victory over the Clippers: sicko mode.
Because for a 7½-minute stretch, the Clippers didn’t have any answer for the James-led onslaught, in which the future Hall of Famer scored 19 of his 34 points in the final quarter to punctuate a 116-112 Lakers win.
“He had to take the cape, tuck it under his seat on the bench, I guess,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “It was time for him to whip it out. He definitely did that, put the cape on, and just got aggressive and got into good rhythm.”
James made five of eight 3-point attempts in the fourth to help turn the Clippers’ 21-point fourth-quarter lead (98-77) into just a two-point Lakers’ deficit (106-104) with 4:36 remaining after he made his fifth 3-pointer of the quarter and his season-high seventh of the game.
The Lakers spammed pick-and-roll actions that led to James getting Clippers big man Daniel Theis guarding him from behind the 3-point arc.
“It’s like an action we call point rub,” Ham said. “It’s basically targeting the weakest defender or targeting where we feel like we can get [an] advantage. And he just caught fire.
“I told him in between quarters that we got to get up 3s. We got to score the ball. He did just that. He set the tone in that regard as well. Thank God he’s on our team.”
James described the zone he was in during the fourth as “a superpower feel.”
“I know we’ve kind of heard what it feels like to be in the zone during our sport and that’s just a feeling when you feel like everything that you put up is going in,” James said. “And for me, I just kept it consistent. I wasn’t taking ill-advised shots. I stayed in the course of the offense.
“When I was able to get the switches, I was able to give myself some space to get a couple more looks, so my teammates did a great job of continuing to find me. And then I just started…
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