Shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope emerged as the third scorer the Los Angeles Lakers had been seeking in Game 4 of the Finals on Tuesday, playing a big role in their 102-96 victory over the Miami Heat, according to Broderick Turner of the LA Times.
Caldwell-Pope gave strong showings in both the first and fourth quarters, finishing with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting. He also did a solid job defensively, helping contain the Heat on the perimeter.
“It means a lot that my teammates lean on me to pick up the energy on the defensive end and also make shots on the offensive end,” Caldwell-Pope told reporters. “I just felt good tonight, stayed in rhythm, within myself and just played.”
Of course, having Anthony Davis and LeBron James doesn’t hurt, but the Lakers needed every bit of the supporting cast to pull this one out and emerge with a 3-1 lead.
“We know what AD and LeBron are going to bring to the table every night,” Lakers guard Alex Caruso said. “They are going to get their attention, they are going to get their shots, they are going to get their numbers because they are two of the best players in the world.
“Our third star, or best player, is whoever hits open shots.”
Here’s more out of Los Angeles:
- James sent a text to his teammates Tuesday morning, telling them that Game 4 was a “must win,” per Kyle Goon of the LA Daily News. “I felt like for me personally, this was one of the biggest games of my career,” James said. “And I wanted to relay that message to my teammates, what type of zone I was in.”
- Davis added that the Lakers rallied around James’ note. “We see the message from our leader … guys knew coming in that we need to bring our A Game,” Davis said.
- Caldwell-Pope’s performance was actually a good example of how things have gone for the Lakers all season — with a different third player emerging in nearly every win, wrote Dan Favale of Bleacher Report.
- While the Lakers were among the league favorites, another banner was anything but predictable based on their entire season, according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.
