LOS ANGELES (AFP) ‒ LeBron James overcame blurred vision Wednesday to score a 34-foot three pointer with under a minute left as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a first half deficit to beat the Golden State Warriors, 103-100, and reach the main draw of the NBA’s West playoffs.
James, who said he could only see out of one eye, hit the game winner for the defending NBA champions in dramatic fashion as it came over top of Warriors superstar Stephen Curry with the shot clock expiring.
Moments before the desperate heave from well back of the three-point line, James had been fouled hard by Warriors Draymond Green while he drove to the basket.
James said he got poked in the eye which blurred his vision, but the four-time league MVP showed he is better with one eye than most players in the league with two.
“After Draymond fingered me in the eye I was literally seeing three rims. I just shot for the middle one,” said James, who had a triple double of 22 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
The victory gives the Lakers the seventh seed in the West playoffs main draw and a first-round matchup with the second-seeded Phoenix Suns in a series that begins Sunday.
The Warriors will get another chance to get into the main playoff draw, but they now must beat the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.
James and Green collided with just over two minutes left and the Warriors ahead 98-97.
Steph Curry poured in a game-high 37 points for the Warriors who were one of the hottest teams in the league heading into Wednesday’s play-in game.
Golden State beat Memphis at home on the final day of the regular season to earn the eighth seed in the play-in tournament.
Anthony Davis scored a team-highs of 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers.
In the other play-in game, the Grizzlies earned the right to face the Warriors next by beating the 10th-seeded San Antonio Spurs, 100-96.
Lithuania’s Jonas Valanciunas finished with 23 points and 23 rebounds for the Grizzlies in front of a pandemic-limited crowd of 7,019 at FedExForum arena in Memphis.
