There is talk about LeBron James challenging Giannis Antetokounmpo favorite for the NBA MVP.
There is a real battle at the Los Angeles Lakers for who deserves the honors for the team. It was on display Thursday in a thrilling 103-101 Lakers victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in their bubble league debut.
Anthony Davis looked great for much of the game before James closed the victory with a winner in traffic.
Davis leads the Lakers’ third quarter rally
Davis dominated the scoreboard and sizzled in a third-quarter rally that elevated the Lakers ahead of their city rivals in what could very well be a preview of the Western Conference final.
His three consecutive points late in the third quarter scored a 17-5 run that gave the Lakers a 72-71 lead and stopped the bleeding from what began as a dominant Clippers stanza.
After the Lakers led the full first half, Clippers forward Paul George made a personal 9-1 run with three consecutive triples to start the fourth. Before the Lakers scored their first field goal of the quarter, the Clippers had run 14-1 to take a 66-55 lead.
But Davis brought the Lakers back to a 77-76 lead at the end of the quarter that the Lakers translated into victory. The best defense one of the league’s top defensive teams had for Davis was to repeatedly incriminate him in the paint. Davis made them pay with a 16-for-17 performance on the line.
LeBron appears big at crucial moment
But James, who filled the scoreboard as he does regularly, should not be less. He scored two of the game’s biggest cubes with a tray in forceful traffic in the final minutes that extended the Lakers ‘lead to 101-98 and a return layup that ensured the Lakers’ victory with 12.8 seconds remaining.
In the end, Davis finished with 34 points, eight rebounds and four assists. James fought from the field, hitting 6 of 19 shots. But he went online when the stakes were higher and had 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
With Davis’ performance, he and James have now recorded 20 30-point performances this season, marking the first time that a Lakers duo has done so since Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in the 2002-03 season.
George’s heroism is not enough
George threatened to steal the victory from the Clippers with little hand, who started the bubble game without Montezl Harrell and Lou Williams, neither of whom has yet to be authorized to play. He plunged another triple with 28.4 seconds remaining to tie the game at 101-101.
But after James put the Lakers on the other end, George’s final shot from beyond the arc did not connect. George finished with 30 points, five rebounds and three steals while hitting 6 of 11 triples. Kawhi Leonard scored 28 points, four assists, two steals and two blocks.
It was the final meeting of the regular season for the rivals, who would start the playoffs as the two best seed in the West if the postseason started today. The Lakers have absolute dominance in first place, extending their lead over the Clippers to 6.5 games with seven games remaining, while the Clippers’ lead over the Denver Nuggets in third place now lies in one game.
More from Yahoo Sports:
