On his 39th birthday, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer faced a surging Minnesota squad led by one of the league’s rising stars, Anthony Edwards, setting the stage for another moment.
An ailment prevented LeBron James from participating in the morning shoot-around and jeopardized his availability for the Saturday night game.
James, however, was prepared to go on the court when it was time for the Lakers to play, the contest representing one of the final challenges before the team switches the calendar and returns home.
By leaping to the rim and executing his signature, forceful one-handed layup, he defied his advanced age. After completing a dunk with an alley-oop pass, he sprinted past the Minnesota defense for an additional slam.
James, with the Lakers in the final seconds requiring a miracle, sprinted down the court and elevated the shot from 23 feet and 9 inches. However, officials perceived James’ foot to be at stake, as the Lakers sensation was one toenail away from yet another historic moment.
The Lakers, trailing by two points with 1.4 seconds remaining after Edwards split free throws, had one final opportunity when James failed to attempt to tie the game with a 108-106 loss.
After turning 39, he concluded with 26 points, making him only the eleventh player in league history to amass 25 or more.
As Minnesota’s leader, Edwards lived up to his reputation as the former No. 1 overall decision. After making one three-pointer, he smiled at Cam Reddish. Prior to his midrange jumper, he induced Anthony Davis to bite on two fakes. Following another three in the fourth, he directed his attention towards the Lakers bench.
And when James attempted to respond following that final three-pointer, the ball rebounded off the rim and landed atop the basket; it was his seventeenth missed three of the night as the Lakers recorded just six makes.
Early on, however, it was Davis who established the tone, not James. Rudy Gobert, a perennial candidate for defensive player of the year, defended Davis as he dominated every aspect of the game.
In the first five minutes of the game, he recorded nine points and five rebounds. For the quarter, he concluded with seventeen points, eight rebounds, and four assists. By halftime, Davis had increased his score to 20 and 10, and his impact on the offense persisted all night.
That was excellent news for the Lakers, as all players except James struggled.
Jarred Vanderbilt and Reddish, who was suffering from a groin injury, were both unable to make uncontested corner threes. Austin Reaves, on the other hand, was unable to generate any offensive momentum, missing nine of his eleven attempts (including a half-court effort that was blocked just after the third-period buzzer). D’Angelo Russell, who was silent for the first two minutes before departing with a contusion to the tailbone after being charged with a late third-quarter foul, was also subdued.
That play, similar to numerous others for Minnesota, the Western Conference’s leading team, was perplexing—a series of turnovers and penalties that kept the Lakers within the game’s fourth-quarter range.
However, a 15-point advantage behind the three-point line compensated for the 19 turnovers; this advantage might have been more substantial had James been positioned an eyelash further from the rim.