LeBron James, Anthony Davis Amaze NBA Fans as Lakers Eliminate Durant, Suns from IST

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In his 21st NBA season, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James defied time once again by delivering a 31-point, 11-assist, eight-rebound, five-steal performance to lead his team to a 106-103 win over the Phoenix Suns to advance to the In-Season Tournament semifinals.

James either scored (15) or assisted (four) on the Lakers’ first 19 fourth-quarter points. The Lakers also outscored the Suns by 12 with James on the floor over the course of his 40 minutes.

The 38-year-old’s biggest buckets occurred late in the fourth, when he scored on back-to-back possessions to put L.A. up 102-97.

Lakers big man Anthony Davis dominated as well by scoring 20 of his 27 points in the first half while adding a game-high 15 rebounds, seven of which came in the final 6:11.

Austin Reaves, who came off the bench to score 20 points, hit the biggest shot of the game by delivering a three-pointer to put L.A. up 105-101 with 15 seconds remaining.

The Suns still had a chance to tie the game on their final possession, but a three-point attempt from Kevin Durant, who led Phoenix with 31 points, fell short.

Ultimately, the story of this game was James, who excelled once again en route to leading the Lakers to a 5-0 In-Season Tournament record. Fans and analysts alike were impressed by Davis as well as the dynamic duo showcased its best once again.

The Lakers will now face the New Orleans Pelicans in the IST semifinals on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET in Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. The winner of that matchup will play the Indiana Pacers/Milwaukee Bucks victor in the finals on Saturday for the first-ever NBA Cup.