Houston Rockets @ Los Angeles Lakers
Sunday, November 19, 2023 at 9:30 PM ET
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA | Game ID: 22300216
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
LAL 20 29 32 24 105HOU 28 27 20 29 104
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
James scores season-high 37, hits go-ahead free throw as Lakers hold off Rockets 105-104
LOS ANGELES -- — Going into Sunday night's game, LeBron James wasn't motivated alone by Dillon Brooks ' slights against him.
The Los Angeles Lakers superstar took to Instagram on Saturday night and wrote under a graphic showing he had 108 games with at least 30 points since coming to Los Angeles in 2018 “But I just came here to make movies though! Ain't that what y'all said right !?!?”
That graphic needs to be updated.
James scored a season-high 37 points, including the go-ahead free throw with 1.9 seconds remaining, as the Lakers held off the Houston Rockets 105-104 on Sunday night.
It was James’ fifth 30-point game this season and his fourth in his last seven.
“Sometimes you need to remind people. So that’s what it was,” James said about the graphic.
Alperen Sengun 's layup tied it with four seconds remaining when the Lakers called timeout. Austin Reaves passed it into James, who was fouled by Tari Eason as he drove inside. James missed the first free throw, but made the second.
Houston, which did not have a timeout left, got the ball to midcourt, but Brooks' 3-point attempt was offline.
“I liked how we battled back and kept fighting. We just didn't play smart at the end,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said.
James scored 13 points in the fourth quarter and gave the Lakers their fifth win in the last six games.
Earlier in the game, the NBA's All-Time leading scorer became the fourth player in league history with at least 10,500 assists (he finished with eight and is at 10,504). He also tied Vince Carter for seventh on the 3-pointers list with 2,290, and moved past Clyde Drexler for eighth on the steals list at 2,208.
“That's the LeBron we’ve all come to know and love over these 21 years,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said.
James and Brooks, who have had a nice rivalry going since last season's playoff series between the Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies , put on another entertaining show.
James picked up a technical for shoving Brooks early in the third quarter but then made a “too small” gesture on the court after he scored over Brooks late in the quarter.
“He's a great competitor. I like going against him. And he was hooping tonight for sure. He shot the ball exceptionally well and kept them in the game,” James said.
Anthony Davis added 27 points and 10 rebounds, but fouled out with 58 seconds remaining. Reaves came off the bench and had 17 points.
Brooks led the Rockets with 24 points, including a season-high six 3-pointers, and Sengun had 23. Houston has dropped two straight after five straight wins.
UP NEXT
Rockets: At Golden State on Monday night.
Lakers: Host Utah on Tuesday in the In-Season Tournament.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
LALAD A. Davis
AR A. Reaves
CR C. Reddish
CW C. Wood
DR D. Russell
JH J. Hayes
LJ L. James
RH R. Hachimura
TP T. Prince
HOUAH A. Holiday
AS A. Sengun
DB D. Brooks
FV F. VanVleet
JG J. Green
JL J. Landale
JS J. Smith Jr.
JT J. Tate
JG Ja. Green
TE T. Eason
LAL/HOU the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur