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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida – Anthony Davis pounded his chest in celebration. LeBron James let out a great scream.
The Los Angeles Lakers are on the cusp of what they want most: the first franchise championship in 10 years.
Davis’ 3-pointer with 39.5 seconds left was the backbreaker, James finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and the Lakers beat the Miami Heat 102-96 in Game Four of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night. night (Wednesday, Manila time).
The Lakers lead 3-1 and can win the title when the series resumes on Friday.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 15 and Danny Green added 10 for the Lakers, who were not left behind at any point in the final 20 minutes. Davis’ last-minute 3-pointer made it 100-91, starting the celebration that it took the Lakers all night to win.
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“It felt like an endgame,” James said. “I felt like both teams were desperate … and that’s what it’s about.”
Jimmy Butler scored 22 points for Miami, who got 21 from Tyler Herro, 17 from Duncan Robinson and 15 from Bam Adebayo, who returned after missing two games with a neck injury.
James’ 3-pointer with 8:18 to play in the third put the Lakers up 55-54 and set the tone for the rest of the night; LA leading, Miami chasing.
The Lakers were up by seven with 2:27 remaining in the third after Davis’ 3-pointer, the 71-64 margin that represents the greater of both sides to that point. Miami scored the next six to get to one, but was unable to return to the top, a trend that persisted into the fourth.
Herro hit a triple early in the quarter to put Miami to one again; the Heat quickly fouled Markieff Morris on a 3-point attempt, and he made all three shots. Butler scored inside to tie the game with 6:27 left; James scored the next five points himself, including a three-point play in which he ended up on his back after spinning the ball perfectly off the glass to score on a drive while making contact.
A bounce here, a bounce there. Those were the differences in the end, and the Lakers made their own breakups.
Butler had a 3 corner kick that would have given Miami the edge with 3:05 left; Caldwell-Pope made a 3 corner at the other end seven seconds later and the Lakers were up 93-88. Miami then delivered the ball in a shot clock violation; Caldwell-Pope scored on a drive for a seven-point lead.
“The work is not done,” James said.
Not yet. But they are on the edge of the abyss.
TIPS
Lakers: Dwight Howard nearly collided with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver as he pulled the Lakers out of the locker room for pregame warm-ups. … The Lakers finished 14 of 39 on 3s, making them 59 of 166 on the series. Before this year, the Lakers’ record for triples in a final was 43 and 125 attempts, which were beaten this year in the first three games.
Heat: Point guard Goran Dragic (left plantar fascia tear) trained on the court before the game in hopes of being able to play for the first time since the first half of Game 1, but was ruled out again shortly after. … Robinson’s first triple on Tuesday was his 50th of the playoffs, which means he and Jae Crowder are the first duo in Heat history with 50 postseason triples each. They are the fourth teammates in NBA history to accomplish that feat.
3-1 LEADS
This is the 36th time a team has led 3-1 in the NBA Finals. Of the 35 above, the team with the advantage has won the title 34 times: James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 became the exception when they won three straight games to defeat Golden State.
In the 3-1 finals situation, the series has ended in five games 51.4% of the time (18 cases), in six games 40% of the time (14 cases) and in seven games 8.6% of time (three cases).
HALF RARE
The Lakers led 49-47 at halftime. It was only the third time in the last 26 games of the NBA Finals that no team reached 50 points in the first 24 minutes. Tuesday was the 1,140th game played this season and only the 35th occurrence of both teams scoring 49 or less at halftime, which is equivalent to 3.1% of the time.
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