Lakers become first team to win game after losing quarter by 30+ points since 1972

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Lakers became the first NBA team to win a game after losing a quarter by 30-plus points since the Boston Celtics on October 20, 1972, against the Buffalo Braves.

In Los Angeles’ 121-112 road win over the Portland Trail Blazers, the team trailed by 25 points at halftime. During the second quarter, the Blazers outscored L.A. 45-13, a difference of 32 points.

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The Lakers just experienced a full range of emotions in their road win over the Trail Blazers.

Los Angeles is the first team to win a game in which it lost a quarter by 30+ points since the Celtics on Oct. 20, 1972 against the Buffalo Braves. pic.twitter.com/z2nSgnYLbz

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 23, 2023

Their 25-point rally matched the largest second-half comeback in the regular season of LeBron James’ career. In Boston’s 126-118 win against the Buffalo Braves in 1972, the C’s were outscored 58-23 in the fourth quarter. That was by a whopping 35 points. However, the Celtics led 103-60 going into the final period.

James logged a game-high 37 points in 36 minutes of action versus Portland. The soon to be 19-time All-Star recorded his 14th double-double of the season. In addition to finishing with 11 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks, the 20-year veteran shot 14-of-24 (58.3%) from the floor and made two 3-pointers.

2022-23 Lakers become the first NBA team to win a game after losing a quarter by 30-plus points since the 1972-73 Celtics

“I guess it’s only one or two ways, you can either go out and you can lay down and get ready for the next game or you can see what happens in the third quarter, make a game of it,” James said.

“And for us as competitors, and our team and our makeup this year, we’re not a lay-down team. That’s just not the makeup of our club.” Also, Thomas Bryant tied his career high in scoring with 31 points. Now, the Lakers are 22-25 and rank 12th in the Western Conference.

Another one in the record books 📝 pic.twitter.com/meH3D5Fxev

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 23, 2023

Of course, the Lakers went on to outscore the Trail Blazers 75-41 in the second half. Los Angeles scored 40 points in the third quarter. Moreover, James (38,164) is now 224 points away from passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) and becoming the league’s all-time leading scorer.

“We’ve been through it a lot,” added James. “And I just want to try to continue to keep improving, throughout late games and one-possession games, two-possession games when we’re down late. And tonight, we did a good job of being able to execute defensively and offensively.”

Last night, the four-time NBA champ also passed Byron Scott (595) for the fourth-most 3s in Lakers franchise history. James has now made a total of 596 shots from downtown with Los Angeles. He still trails Kobe Bryant (1,827), Derek Fisher (846), and Nick Van Exel (750).