As he threw haymakers into the air and roared to the celling, Tyson Chandler could’ve been mistaken for Mike Tyson.
The Lakers’ new big man had plenty of reason to celebrate. After all, he had (by a fingertip) just saved his team with a block on Atlanta’s Trae Young in the game’s final second, preserving a 107-106 victory.
“For him to be playing winning basketball once again, I think those emotions just came out,” LeBron James said. “To make a game-winning block like that — you don’t see that much in our league.”
Chandler — who was signed by the Lakers just five days earlier — has been excellent in purple and gold, particularly on the defensive side of the floor. Chandler’s rim protection has been invaluable, and on that final possession it was vital.
The Lakers played the final stretch without a true point guard, so Brandon Ingram was left isolated onto rookie flamethrower Trae Young (20 points, 12 assists).
Young used a flurry of dribbles to lose Ingram and drove for a clean look at a game-winning finger-roll. But Chandler had been eyeing Young, and abandoned his man at the last second to leap straight up and barely graze the ball at its apex, sealing victory for the Lakers.
“I studied [Young] a little bit and watched him through the course of the game,” Chandler said. “I saw how he has that flip shot. I was just timing it and making sure he didn’t have time to fake me and give it to my guy. Once he committed, I committed.”
Chandler was active all night long, tallying four points, five rebounds (all offensive), three blocks and two steals. Meanwhile, LeBron shouldered the offense on a night when the Lakers had trouble finding their groove.
James dropped a game-high 26 points, attacking from inside and out with four dunks and three 3-pointers. Meanwhile, Kyle Kuzma added 18 points — including 14 in the paint — as most of his production stemmed from fast-break layups and cuts.
Both players had key moments down the stretch.
The Lakers trailed by two with just two minutes remaining when James and Chandler blitzed Young on a pick-and-roll. The point guard tried to pass the ball away, but Chandler came away with a steal, igniting a fast-break that finished with Kuzma trailing in for a layup.
Atlanta’s Kent Bazemore (21 points) was hit with a technical for arguing with the referees, and Kuzma sunk the free throw for a one-point edge.
However, 41-year-old Vince Carter responded with a flashback dunk from the league’s oldest player, giving the Hawks the lead again. Both teams came up empty on their next possessions, and James took the game into his hands in the closing seconds.
He drove to the basket and was hammered by three Hawks, who closed in too aggressively and sent him to the charity stripe. But James — who has struggled with crunch-time free throws this season — missed both of his foul shots.
Fortunately for the Lakers, Kyle Kuzma had beaten his man on the boards. First Kuzma unsuccessfully tried to tap it in, but was able to gather his own miss and try a floater. That, too, was off, yet James capitalized on the defense’s focus on Kuzma, rising up and throwing down a go-ahead dunk with 15.3 seconds remaining.
“I saw me and Kuzma fighting,” Chandler said, “and all of a sudden, of course, the beast comes out of nowhere and dunks for the win.”
Then it was Chandler’s turn to unleash his beast, as Young responded by getting past Ingram and just failing to clear the ball over Tyson’s 7-foot-3 wingspan.
The swat gave the Lakers (7-6) their fifth win in six games — including three straight — and pushed them above .500 for the first time this season.
Chandler was immediately swarmed by teammates, including LeBron. The newest Laker couldn’t remember what James had told him … until LeBron yelled it again from across the postgame locker room.
“I said, ‘That’s my dog!’”
Notes
Lonzo Ball provided eight points, 11 assists and six rebounds, while JaVale McGee added eight points, nine rebounds and three blocks. … Taurean Prince (23 points, five 3-pointers) and Alex Len (17 points, 11 rebounds) had strong games for Atlanta. … The Hawks have lost eight of their past nine games. … NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Tyson Fury and P.K. Subban were among the sold-out crowd.