The Los Angeles Lakers snapped their three-game losing streak with a 120-119 win over the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Wednesday. The Lakers had LeBron James to thank for this triumph, as he hit a game-winning buzzer-beater at the rim following a miss by Luka Doncic.
There has been this notion that James isn’t a clutch player, but this was his eighth game-winning buzzer-beater in the regular season and playoffs. He is now tied with Kobe Bryant and Joe Johnson for the second most game-winning buzzer-beaters in NBA history, with only Michael Jordan ahead of him, according to Keerthika Uthayakumar.
Most game-winning buzzer-beaters in NBA history:
Michael Jordan had 9
LeBron James with his 8th
Joe Johnson had 8
Kobe Bryant had 8
Paul Pierce had 7LeBron made his first game-winning buzzer-beater on Jan 23, 2009. Only 12 players from 2008-09 are still in the league.
— Keerthika Uthayakumar (@keerthikau) March 27, 2025
This was actually James’ first game-winning buzzer-beater as a member of the Lakers. He had last made one for the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Toronto Raptors on May 5, 2018, in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
James had hit three game-winning buzzer-beaters in 2018, and you wouldn’t have thought it would take him this long to make another. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait too long for the next one, and it would be quite a feat to match Jordan’s tally.
Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
James finished with 13 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists and one steal against the Pacers. The 40-year-old’s incredible streak of 1,282 regular season games with at least 10 points seemed in danger of snapping here when he had just three after three quarters.
James then proceeded to score 10 points in the fourth quarter alone to keep the streak alive. You wonder how long he’ll be able to keep this up.
James will be in action next when the Lakers take on the Chicago Bulls at the United Center on Thursday at 8 PM ET. It would be rather fitting if he matches Jordan’s record against his former team.