Lakers win Game 4 in overtime to put Grizzlies on brink of playoff elimination

This, a moment when the Lakers’ first-round playoff series could swing in one direction or the other, had to be played in staccato. There were too many fouls, too many whistles, too many missed shots and too many mistakes to provide the game with meaningful flow.

That meant the Lakers and the Grizzlies had to win moments, basketball at its most granular, each box out, each dribble, each decision vital to grabbing the minimal amounts of momentum that were available down the stretch Monday night at Crypto.com Arena.

D’Angelo Russell provided one of those stretches, hitting three three-point shots in short order in the fourth quarter to energize the nervous crowd and cut into a seven-point Memphis lead. Austin Reaves had it at moments, as did Jarred Vanderbilt, Dennis Schroder and Troy Brown Jr.

It wasn’t until overtime that LeBron James and Anthony Davis took over, scoring the Lakers’ first nine points of overtime to secure a 117-111 victory in Game 4 and taking a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

James finished with 22 points, a playoff-career-high 20 rebounds and seven assists while Reaves contributed 23 points and six assists. Davis had 12 points on an off shooting night to go with 11 rebounds.

Desmond Bane scored 36 to lead the Grizzlies, who host Game 5 on Wednesday, while Ja Morant finished with 19 points on eight-of-24 shooting and seven assists.

Lakers forward Anthony Davis grabs a rebound from Grizzlies forward Xavier Tillman during the second quarter Monday at Crypto.com Arena.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Earlier when the Lakers needed it, with a chance to take the lead in the final seconds, James and Davis struggled to deliver.

James did find a cutting Rui Hachimura, one of the stars of the first three games, on a cut with 10.8 seconds left, but Jaren Jackson Jr. quickly erased the dunk at the rim, with the Grizzlies scoring in transition.

The Lakers had one last shot. And finally, with 0.8 left, James arrived.

His high-arcing bank shot tied the score at 104, buying the Lakers the overtime to secure the win.