LeBron James orchestrated his greatest fourth-quarter comeback in his two-decade career on Wednesday, propelling the Los Angeles Lakers from a 21-point deficit to a 116-112 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The 39-year-old NBA legend delivered 34 points, an impressive 19 of which came in the final quarter, leading the Lakers to a thrilling win over their in-form city rivals at Crypto.com Arena.
It was yet another remarkable performance from the age-defying James, who, along with the Lakers, seemed destined for a resounding defeat after the Clippers surged to a commanding 98-77 lead early in the final period.
However, a determined James spearheaded the Lakers' incredible comeback, outscoring the Clippers 39-16 in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
"The game is not ever over until it's double zeroes (on the play clock)," James told an on-court interviewer after the win.
James was backed by 20 points and 12 rebounds from Anthony Davis, while D'Angelo Russell added 18 and Rui Hachimura 13.
Kawhi Leonard topped the Clippers' scoring with 26 points.
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue took responsibility for the loss.
"When you're up 21 points, you can't lose a game like that," Lue said. "I don't think that's ever happened since I've been coaching – to lose a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter."
In other games on Wednesday, Nikola Jokic bagged his fourth straight triple-double as the Denver Nuggets overpowered the Sacramento Kings 117-96.
Two-time former NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic finished with 14 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists to bag his 19th triple of the season.
The Serbian star had entered the game facing an intriguing duel with Sacramento's Domantas Sabonis, who has been in blistering form since the All-Star break with three consecutive triple-doubles.
But Sabonis was effectively bottled up by Denver as the Nuggets staged a superb second-quarter rally to turn the game around after trailing by 15 points.
Sacramento, missing injured playmaker De'Aaron Fox, had swept into a 47-32 lead to raise hopes of a morale-boosting road victory.
Denver roared back with a 21-4 run to regain control with Jamal Murray, who finished with 32 points, which was outstanding as the Nuggets opened up a 65-55 halftime lead at the break.
Denver outscored Sacramento 35-17 in the third quarter before coasting to victory by a 21-point margin.
The win leaves reigning NBA champions Denver third in the Western Conference with a 40-19 record, while Sacramento slipped to 33-25 in eighth place.
Elsewhere, Anthony Edwards shrugged off a lingering ankle injury to score 34 points as the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves overcame stubborn resistance from the struggling Memphis Grizzlies to grind out a 110-101 victory.
Memphis (20-38) had surged into an early 14-point lead in the first quarter and also led by double digits in the third before Minnesota hit back to claim their 42nd win of the season.
Edwards led the Wolves' scoring with 34 points, while four other Minnesota players reached double figures.
In Toronto, Luka Doncic celebrated his 25th birthday with a 30-point triple-double as the Dallas Mavericks bounced back from Tuesday's shattering buzzer-beater defeat to Cleveland with a 136-125 win over the Raptors.
A high-scoring first half saw Toronto sneak into a 67-66 lead at the break before Doncic sparked a 40-point third quarter to take the visitors out of reach.
Doncic scored 15 of his 30 points in the third quarter, finishing the game with 16 assists and 11 rebounds to complete his triple-double.
"Just a normal game, a triple-double," Dallas coach Jason Kidd said of Doncic's gem. "He was really good. Luka is our leader and he was really good tonight."
Cleveland was unable to back up Tuesday's win over Dallas in their road game against Chicago, the Bulls winning 132-123 in double overtime.
Donovan Mitchell could have won it for Cleveland as time expired in the first overtime period, only to see his 20-foot jump shot miss.
