SALT LAKE CITY — The clock ticked down and the ball, like it has for most of the last two decades of professional basketball, was in LeBron James hands.
Throughout the fourth, he was relentless in trying to find ways to score, the mismatch always in his favor, and largely, the ball just not going in. On one crucial possession in the fourth, the Lakers grabbed offensive rebound after offensive rebound only for James to miss three three-pointers on the same possession.
But this was a style of play that’s resulted in championships, in building a reputation for James as one of, if not the greatest, to ever play.